EU Council President Charles Michel congratulated the new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in a message on Twitter Sunday, after an alliance of parties ousted Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Looking forward to strengthen(ing) the (EU-Israel) partnership for common prosperity and towards lasting regional peace & stability,” he tweeted. The European Council represents the European Union’s member states. Bennett, a right-wing Jewish nationalist and former tech millionaire, takes over at the helm of an Israeli government pieced together by an eight-party coalition.
Their alliance ended Benjamin Natanyahu’s 12 years in power. Bennett, a former defence minister under Netanyahu, vowed to keep Israel safe from Iran, promising that “Israel won’t let Iran have nuclear weapons”, a goal the Islamic republic denies pursuing.
The diverse anti-Netanyahu bloc was cobbled together by the secular centrist Yair Lapid, a former TV presenter. It spans the political spectrum, with three right-wing, two centrist and two left-wing parties, and even an Arab Islamic conservative party.
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