Binyamin Netanyahu arrived a little late at the Knesset, Thursday, December 29, managing with great difficulty to master a broad smile. He had been waiting eighteen months for this return to power, made possible by his victory in the legislative elections on 1is november. A few hours later, his government, made up of thirty ministers, including only five women, won the confidence of Parliament with 63 votes out of 120. “I am entering my sixteenth year as Prime Minister of Israel. (…) I’m not getting used to it, I’m excited this time too”, he slipped while inaugurating the first council of ministers, the same evening. The head of government now has all the cards in hand. Even the American president, Joe Biden, who does not share the ideas of this new coalition, declared to have “Looking forward to working with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has been my friend for years”.
Bringing together members of his party, the Likud, Jewish supremacists and ultra-Orthodox, this new cabinet gives pride of place to the extreme right and threatens to profoundly change the nature of the Israeli political system. “We have four main missions: to thwart Iran’s efforts to acquire a nuclear arsenal, to restore security and sovereignty inside Israel, to fight against the high cost of living and housing, and to expand the circle of peace by signing other normalization agreements with states in the region, the new prime minister told his troops. Mr. Netanyahu hopes to quickly bring about a fruitful rapprochement with Saudi Arabia.
“Feeling of worry”
Thursday morning, however, it was in the heckling that the session in Parliament had begun. ” Shame ! », ” Low ! », shouted several deputies from the former majority, banging on the tables. Six elected officials were excluded. “I hear the incessant cries of the opposition, as if it were the end of the country and of democracy”, quipped Mr. Netanyahu. He called on his opponents to “respect the decision of the voters”drawing a parallel with the assault on the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump in the United States to contest the transfer of power with Joe Biden.
‘Cause the opposition was drumming also outside the Knesset. Some 3,000 demonstrators – activists against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, LGBT groups or “anti-Bibi” activists, who do not want a prime minister on trial for corruption – had gathered to protest against the new government which they describe as “fascist”. Another rally took place in the evening in Tel Aviv, at the call of LGBT movements, after several homophobic comments from members of the coalition.
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