24th Knesset dissolves, Yair Lapid becomes Israel’s 15th Prime Minister
The Knesset plenum approved today a bill to dissolve the 24th Knesset in its second and third readings, sending the country to another round of general elections, Israel’s fifth round in less than four years.
Yair Lapid, Foreign Affairs Minister & Alternate Prime Minister, speaks at the press conference for regulating the rights of people with disabilities at the Knesset in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Feb 6, 2022. Photo by Shalev Shalom/TPS
The bill passed with the support of 92 Members of Knesset with no opponents or abstentions.
The Knesset is dissolving itself only a year after it was established, following Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s announcement last week that he was leaving office and turning over the reins of power to Yair Lapid, who will now serve as Israel’s 15th prime minister until the elections on November 1. He will enter office officially on Thursday night at midnight.
Lapid assumed the premiership as part of a rotation agreement signed between the two when the government was established a year ago. Bennett and Lapid changed chairs in the plenum immediately after the law was approved. The exchange ceremony between Bennett and Lapid took place in a small format at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, without an audience or media.
After a bit over a year in power, 384 days to be exact, during which Bennett faced repeated upheavals within his staff, party, and coalition, he stepped down, becoming the shortest-serving prime minister in the country’s short history. He announced Wednesday night he was stepping away from politics and would not run in the upcoming elections.
After taking the helm with only seven seats, his Yemina ruling party shattered and its remnants scattered everywhere, with MKs Idit Silman and Nir Orbach leaving him, Amichai Chikli being booted out, other MKs with no political future, and Ayelet Shaked now remaining the leader of what is left of the party.
Elections are slated for November 1, 2022, the fifth general election in Israel in the past three and a half years and only a little over 18 months since the last elections. The latest polls show that Benjamin Netanyahu has the best chance to establish a government, but with a long campaign period of 124 days, much can change.
well i hope he does right and defend Israel. And its people.