If all goes according to plan, Yamina leader Naftali Bennett will be sworn in as Israel’s 13th prime minister on June 13. The following day he will join the other members of his eight-party coalition government for a traditional photo with the president. Bennett will be setting several major precedents. For the first time in Israeli history, a politician whose party only won 5% of the vote (translated into six seats in the 120-member Knesset) will lead the Jewish state. This is also the first time that a yarmulke-wearing Jew is being handed the reins to the sovereign Jewish state.
A tremendous burden of proof lies on Bennett’s shoulders. Most leaders of the coalition he heads, probably the most complex in Israeli history, do not hold him in abundant esteem. Against all odds and through an incredible constellation of circumstances, timing and history, the 49-year-old Bennett is about to replace Benjamin Netanyahu, who had become a fixture in the prime minister’s office for the past 12 years.
The cornerstone for this unusual edifice was laid ahead of the 2013 elections by two political newcomers. One was Bennett, who together with his running mate Ayelet Shaked took over the defunct National Religious Party and swept up a significant following that netted him 12 Knesset seats. The other was Yair Lapid, who a year earlier had established the Yesh Atid party and raked in 19 Knesset seats in the 2013 elections. Despite their joint haul of 31 Knesset seats, they were defeated by Netanyahu and Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman, but in the final analysis, they won.
Despite Bennett’s impressive showing, Netanyahu boycotted him after those elections, reflecting the historic resentment the Netanyahu family harbors for Bennett and Shaked — who both worked as aides to Netanyahu when he led the opposition in 2006 until they were kicked out ignominiously by Mrs. Sara Netanyahu. In putting together his government, Netanyahu turned for support to various party leaders — all except for Bennett, who was probably his most natural ally.
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