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The DOJ has a plan to protect voting rights. It might not be enough.

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As Republican-controlled state legislatures around the country clamp down on the right to vote, the Biden Justice Department is preparing to push back — but its efforts, hampered by stalled federal voting rights legislation, may only be able to achieve so much.
In a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-delivered-policy-address-regarding-voting-rights">speech</a> on Friday, Attorney General Merrick Garland laid out the DOJ plan to protect voting rights and announced that the department’s Civil Rights Division would begin staffing up to aid enforcement efforts.
According to Garland, the voting section of the Civil Rights Division will double its staff of lawyers “within the next thirty days,” and the DOJ will renew its efforts to use existing laws, such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the National Voter Registration Act, and the Help America Vote Act, to “ensure that we protect every qualified American seeking to participate in our democracy.”
“There are many things that are open to debate in America,” Garland said Friday. “But the right of all eligible citizens to vote is not one of them. The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy, the right from which all other rights ultimately flow.”
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Attorney General Merrick Garland: "There are many things that are open to debate in America. But the right of all eligible citizens to vote is not one of them. The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy, the right from which all other rights ultimately flow." <a href="https://t.co/CweEfo3bVX">pic.twitter.com/CweEfo3bVX</a>
— CBS News (@CBSNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1403418617081966596?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2021</a></blockquote>
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To protect that right, though, the department has its work cut out for it: already this year, at least 14 states, including swing states like Arizona, Florida, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22368044/georgia-sb202-voter-suppression-democracy-big-lie">Georgia</a>, have imposed new voting restrictions, <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-may-2021">according to the Brennan Center for Justice</a>, which tracks voting rights issues.
And last weekend, Texas Democrats <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/30/texas-voting-restrictions-house/">narrowly (and possibly only temporarily) blocked</a> an additional measure in the Lone Star State, which would have slashed early voting hours and limited mail-in voting in the state, among other changes, by walking out of the Texas Capitol to deny the state House a necessary quorum.
Garland said Friday that those new laws would be examined as part of the DOJ’s voting rights push, as would state-level election “audits” like the one <a href="https://www.vox.com/22417310/arizona-audit-ballots-cyber-ninjas-uv-lights-qanon-conspiracy-theory-vote-suppression-fraud">currently underway</a> in Arizona.
Additionally, the DOJ will take steps to address election disinformation, according to Garland, and it will publish new guidance on early voting, mail-in voting, and the upcoming redistricting process.
“Where we see violations, we will not hesitate to act,” Garland said.
Despite laying out a major effort to combat voter suppression and protect voting rights, however, Garland was also forthright on Friday about the DOJ’s limitations in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/2/14/17619196/voting-rights-fight-explained-shelby-county-v-holder">Shelby County v. Holder</a>, which struck down a <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/2/14/17619202/voting-rights-fight-explained-key-sections-rights-act">key portion</a> of the Voting Rights Act.
According to the Court’s <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-96_6k47.pdf">ruling</a> in Shelby, the preclearance formula used in the act — which defined which states and localities were subject to preclearance, or approval by the federal DOJ before changing their voting laws — was out-of-date and unconstitutional.
The result, as Jenée Desmond-Harris <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/2/14/17619196/voting-rights-fight-explained-shelby-county-v-holder">explained</a> for Vox in 2016, is that “until Congress passes legislation with a new formula for preclearance under Section 4 — which doesn’t look likely to happen anytime soon — jurisdictions that were covered by the previous formula are free to make election changes without any need to get approval from the federal government.”
Prior to Shelby, nine states — Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia — were <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/6/25/18701277/shelby-county-v-holder-anniversary-voting-rights-suppression-congress">governed</a> by the federal preclearance requirement, as were some areas in California, Florida, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, and South Dakota.
The pre-Shelby <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/section-4-voting-rights-act">coverage formula</a> that imposed preclearance requirements on those states mandated that any state or “political subdivision” within a state that both “maintained a ‘test or device’ restricting the opportunity to register and vote,” and had less than 50 percent of its voting-age population either registered to vote or voting in the 1964 presidential election would be subject to federal preclearance.
However, while the formula was updated over the years — for example, the iteration struck down by the Supreme Court relied on voter turnout and voter registration levels from 1972 instead — <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-96_6k47.pdf">the Court ruled that</a>:
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[A] statute’s “current burdens” must be justified by “current needs,” and any “disparate geographic coverage” must be “sufficiently related to the problem that it targets.” The coverage formula met that test in 1965, but no longer does so. Coverage today is based on decades-old data and eradicated practices. The formula captures States by reference to literacy tests and low voter registration and turnout in the 1960s and early 1970s. … In 1965, the States could be divided into two groups: those with a recent history of voting tests and low voter registration and turnout, and those without those characteristics. Congress based its coverage formula on that distinction. Today the Nation is no longer divided along those lines, yet the Voting Rights Act continues to treat it as if it were.
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But approximately eight years after the Supreme Court’s decision, Congress still hasn’t provided a new formula for preclearance, and doesn’t look likely to do so anytime soon, since a renewal of the Voting Rights Act would require 60 votes in the Senate under current rules and, despite little Republican support for such a bill, Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema continue to take a hard line against <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/06/politics/joe-manchin-for-the-people-act-voting-filibuster/index.html">abolishing the filibuster</a>.
What did happen in the interim, however, was a slew of new voting restrictions in states previously subject to preclearance — restrictions that may not have become law, were preclearance still in place. As P.R. Lockhart <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/6/25/18701277/shelby-county-v-holder-anniversary-voting-rights-suppression-congress">reported</a> for Vox in 2019:
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According to the <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/new-voting-restrictions-america">Brennan Center for Justice</a>, a policy and research group that monitors new voting restrictions, there have been hundreds of “harsh measures making it harder to vote” introduced in state legislatures since 2010. Many of these were introduced after the 2013 Shelby ruling, and, as a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/12/politics/voting-rights-federal-commission-election/index.html">federal commission noted last year</a>, have been seen both in states previously subjected to preclearance and states that were not.
These restrictions have taken many forms, including <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/10/25/18010928/2018-midterm-elections-voting-rights-purges">strict photo ID requirements</a>, limitations on who can provide assistance at polling places, the curbing of early voting days, and the <a href="https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/kz58qx/how-the-gutting-of-the-voting-rights-act-led-to-closed-polls">closing of hundreds of polling places across the US</a>. Other measures, like the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/almost-16-million-voters-were-removed-from-the-rolls-we-should-be-alarmed/2019/05/15/f3de396a-7682-11e9-bd25-c989555e7766_story.html?utm_term=.10508d42f938">purging of voters from state voter rolls</a> and <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/abbott-v-perez-neil-gorsuch-says-the-voting-rights-act-does-not-prohibit-racial-gerrymandering.html">drawing election districts</a> in a way that curbs the power of voters of color, have affected how much power communities of color hold in elections.
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Similar measures have continued to pile up since then, particularly in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat and the widespread GOP adoption of <a href="https://www.vox.com/22420764/liz-cheney-trump-republicans-democracy-2024">baseless “election fraud” rhetoric</a>. As Garland pointed out on Friday, that’s at least partially because of Shelby, which put an end to preclearance absent further congressional action.
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So my big takeaway from AG Garland's speech on voting rights is that he might as well have said "I will use every single one of the wholly inadequate tools that I now have to protect democracy, FU SCOTUS."
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) <a href="https://twitter.com/imillhiser/status/1403422253874876426?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2021</a></blockquote>
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“Although we will not wait for that legislation to act, we must be clear-eyed,” Garland said Friday. “The Shelby County decision eliminated critical tools for protecting voting rights. And, as the President has said, we need Congress to pass S.1 and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would provide the department with the tools it needs.”
Though the harm done by Shelby and the effective end of preclearance isn’t new, Garland’s speech Friday highlights why things are looking increasingly grim for voting rights in the US, despite the prospect of more DOJ enforcement of federal voting protections.
Specifically, as Vox’s Ian Millhiser <a href="https://www.vox.com/22463490/voting-rights-democracy-texas-georgia-suppression-jim-crow-supreme-court-sb7">explained</a> earlier this month, the current GOP offensive against voting rights, animated by the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22420764/liz-cheney-trump-republicans-democracy-2024">Big Lie</a> that has increasingly become an article of faith for the Republican Party, is all the more worrying because it is being advanced on multiple fronts, some far harder to overcome than others.
In addition to direct efforts to make it harder to vote — early voting restrictions, voter ID laws, and the like, none of which are new to the GOP — multiple Republican-controlled state legislatures have advanced efforts that could make it easier for the GOP to overturn elections on the basis of made-up claims of voter fraud.
<a href="https://www.vox.com/22463490/voting-rights-democracy-texas-georgia-suppression-jim-crow-supreme-court-sb7">According to Millhiser</a>,
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Not every provision of the latest round of voter suppression bills can be overcome either by vigilant voters or by smart campaigns.
Georgia’s new law, for example, permits state-level Republican officials to <a href="https://www.vox.com/22352112/georgia-voting-sb-202-explained">take over local election boards</a> in Democratic strongholds such as Atlanta. That matters because these local boards can potentially <a href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/georgia-bill-would-shift-power-over-elections-to-gop-appointees/VPNVO2W4TBBTFKGA7Z2GZIEQEE/">close polling places, disqualify voters, or even refuse to certify an election result</a>. Voters who do everything right might nonetheless have their ballots disqualified.
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What’s more, Georgia isn’t alone in attempting to shift power over elections to Republicans. In Arizona, Republican state legislators are <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/arizona-republicans-introduce-bill-strip-powers-democratic-secretary-state-n1268558">pushing a measure</a> to strip Democratic secretary of state Katie Hobbs of her power to defend election lawsuits.
The measure, which was advanced through committee late last month, would instead transfer that power to a Republican — and as the Washington Post’s Aaron Blake <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/27/gops-brazen-move-strip-power-fraud-narrative-busting-secretary-state-again/">points out</a>, appears specifically designed to target Hobbs and would expire when her term does.
That particular proposal hasn’t passed yet, and it’s unclear if it will — but Arizona Republicans, who are currently overseeing an “audit” of the the 2020 election results in Maricopa County, have been at the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/10/trailer-arizona-model-republicans-trek-phoenix-planning-2020-election-audits-back-home/">forefront</a> of the GOP war against small-d democracy with measures like the one targeting Hobbs.
As political scientist David Faris <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22432229/democracy-america-democratic-party-reform">explained</a> to Vox’s Sean Illing in May, the new GOP strategy hinges on finding “a way to overturn an election with the veneer of legality” — and Faris says 2020 was only a “test run.”
“You have to give Trump and Republicans some kind of dark credit for figuring out that this is really conceivable,” Faris told Vox. “I think they now know that, even though it would cause a court battle and possibly a civil war, that if they can’t win by suppressing the vote and the election is close enough, they can do this if they control enough state legislatures and the Congress.”
As Garland said in his speech Friday, however, there are bills that could potentially stem the tide of GOP-led voter suppression and election subversion measures. Specifically, two Democratic proposals — the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/6/8/22521563/manchin-hr1-s1-for-the-people-act">For the People Act</a> and the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/08/how-is-john-lewis-voting-rights-act-different-hr-1/">John Lewis Voting Rights Act</a> — would both make strides toward resurrecting and expanding federal voting rights protections.
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Same. But on this I don't think it's Garland's fault that his office is not the one that is best positioned to defend voting rights. Article II is not where the power is at here.
Article I (Congress) and Article III (the Judiciary) are supposed to be doing this work. <a href="https://t.co/pnHMPjFnCw">https://t.co/pnHMPjFnCw</a>
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ElieNYC/status/1403427304659984388?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The first of the pair, the For the People Act, would represent a sea change in federal voting protections if passed.
<a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/6/8/22521563/manchin-hr1-s1-for-the-people-act">According to Vox’s Andrew Prokop</a>, the bill “would require automatic voter registration, same-day registration, and at least two weeks of early voting” in all federal elections, and it would “restore voting rights to all felons who have completed their terms of incarceration, allow registered voters lacking IDs to submit a sworn written statement instead, and attempt to limit voter roll purges,” among a slew of other changes.
It would also establish nonpartisan redistricting commissions to end partisan gerrymandering, create new anti-corruption measures, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/3/3/22309123/house-democrats-pass-voting-rights-bill-hr1">quite a bit more</a>.
However, it’s likely dead in the water after Manchin came out against it in an <a href="https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_ed_commentaries/joe-manchin-why-im-voting-against-the-for-the-people-act/article_c7eb2551-a500-5f77-aa37-2e42d0af870f.html">op-ed</a> last week, even setting aside the fact that it lacks Republican support and thus couldn’t clear the 60-vote threshold imposed by the filibuster (which, again, Manchin does support).
That leaves the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would give the DOJ back what Garland called its “most effective tool to protect voting rights over the past half-century” — preclearance.
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AG Merrick Garland wraps up his speech on voting rights by quoting the late John Lewis: "Democracy is not a state. It is an act. And each generation much do its part." <a href="https://t.co/gCMpLhTltk">pic.twitter.com/gCMpLhTltk</a>
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1403429186941853697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/06/what-would-the-john-lewis-voting-rights-act-actually-do.html">According to New York magazine’s Ed Kilgore</a>, Manchin has even proposed a version of the bill that would go farther than the formula struck down by the Supreme Court in 2013 and expand preclearance to all 50 states, though it wouldn’t impact voting laws like the one already on the books in Georgia.
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IMO, Democrats' first priority now should be convincing Manchin that the John Lewis Voting Rights Act should also contain strong non-partisan redistricting rules
— Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp) <a href="https://twitter.com/zackbeauchamp/status/1401977105001369605?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Still, a renewal of the Voting Rights Act, like the For the People Act, would be subject to the filibuster, which doesn’t put it in much better shape as far as prospects in the Senate go. Since Manchin is on the record as supporting it, and it has at least one <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/john-lewis-voting-rights-bill-faces-steep-uphill-climb-senate-n1269910">Republican backer</a> in Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, it’s a slightly cheerier picture — but if Manchin and Sinema don’t budge on the filibuster, and they don’t seem inclined to so far, it won’t matter.
As a result, even as the DOJ prepares to step up its voting protection efforts, it’s somewhat unclear what comes next in the struggle over voting rights. As Washington Post columnist and former FiveThirtyEight elections reporter Perry Bacon Jr. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/20/american-democracy-is-even-worse-shape-than-you-think/">wrote last month</a>, “America is still headed in a terrible direction — and at a much faster pace than I expected when Biden took over.”
“Moderate Democrats and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/17/dangerous-identity-politics-anti-trump-republicans/?itid=lk_inline_manual_21">anti-Trump Republicans</a> either don’t appreciate the direness of the situation or don’t care,” Bacon argues. “I hope I am overly alarmed about all of this. But I don’t think I am. Perhaps <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-washington-posts-new-slogan-turns-out-to-be-an-old-saying/2017/02/23/cb199cda-fa02-11e6-be05-1a3817ac21a5_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_22">democracy dies faster in darkness</a>. But it could also die slowly in the light, as all of us watched but didn’t do enough to save it.”
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/6/13/22531888/justice-doj-plan-protect-voting-rights-preclearance-merrick-garland">https://www.vox.com/2021/6/13/22531888/justice-doj-plan-protect-voting-rights-preclearance-merrick-garland</a>

vox The DOJ has a plan to protect voting rights. It might not be enough.

As Republican-controlled state legislatures around the country clamp down on the right to vote, the Biden Justice Department is preparing t...

The fall of “King Bibi”

Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, having held the job continuously since 2009. Now, finally, the reign of “<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-king-bibi-wasn-t-the-only-big-myth-shattered-in-israel-this-week-1.9871622">King Bibi</a>” — a moniker earned by his lengthy stay in office and authoritarian inclinations — has come to an end.
On Sunday, Netanyahu’s opponents in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/EXT-LIVE-israel-s-new-government-set-to-be-sworn-in-today-ending-netanyahu-s-12-year-rule-1.9899971#7012931111">voted to replace him</a> with a “change” coalition: a group of diverse parties from across the Israeli political spectrum united only by their interest in pushing Netanyahu out. The new prime minister is Naftali Bennett, from the far-right Yamina party — though Yair Lapid, from the centrist Yesh Atid party, <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/israel-new-government-netanyahu-explained">will have a veto over his decisions</a>.
Netanyahu’s downfall is, more than anything else, the result of his own hubris.
Over the past 12 years, Netanyahu has dominated Israeli politics. He’s not only successfully implemented a series of right-wing policies, such as entrenching Israel’s presence in the West Bank, but also consolidated a dangerous amount of power in his own hands. He is currently <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-55949391">on trial for corruption charges</a> stemming from, among other things, his attempt to buy off media outlets.
Israeli politics has divided into pro- and anti-Bibi camps; the split is so narrow that Israel has been forced to hold four elections in two years, with none delivering a decisive verdict.
It’s this paralysis, and the looming threat of Netanyahu’s anti-democratic behavior, that brought parties from across the political spectrum together to finally get beyond him.
Bennett will serve as prime minister first, for two years, with Lapid taking over from him after that. It’s a power split that partly reflects the internal divisions inside the coalition, which depends on votes from eight different parties on the right, center, and left. One of the eight is Ra’am, an Islamist party and the first Arab party ever to join an Israeli governing coalition.
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<figcaption>Naftali Bennett, center, seen during a special session of the Knesset on June 2.</figcaption>
<cite>Ronen Zvulun/AFP/Getty Images</cite></figure>
Calling this arrangement unstable is an understatement. The members of this coalition agree on almost nothing and thus will be unable to make major policy changes on most issues without collapsing. This is especially true in the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22430488/israel-gaza-war-2021-hamas-sheikh-jarrah">conflict with the Palestinians</a>, where the divides among the coalition parties are arguably most severe. A major event, like another flare-up in Hamas rocket fire, could bring them to each others’ throats — forcing yet another round of elections.
But the fact that this new government exists at all speaks to the desire among many Israelis to move on from the Netanyahu era — a desire that led to a seismic change to Israeli politics.
“Simply replacing Netanyahu is a huge deal,” said Michael Koplow, the policy director at the US-based Israel Policy Forum think tank. “And including an Arab party in a government is a huge deal, even if the coalition falls apart after six months.”
For 10 years, from 2009 to 2019, Netanyahu rode the long-running rightward drift of the Israeli electorate to victory — defeating his opponents on the center and left through a mix of deft political strategy and demagoguery. But things started to fall apart after Israel’s election in April 2019, when the current political crisis began.
In that vote, Netanyahu’s Likud and allied right-wing parties won a majority of seats in the Knesset, seemingly setting them up for another extension of his historic premiership. But one party, the secular nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu, refused to join the government — <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Elections-set-for-Sept-17-after-coalition-talks-fail-591044">citing a disagreement over special exemptions</a> for mandatory military service given to ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The inability of Netanyahu or his opponents to form a government then led to another election in September of that year, which was supposed to resolve the deadlock. By then, Israeli politics had come to revolve around one big thing: Netanyahu himself and his alleged abuse of power while in office.
Bibi had served as prime minister once before, from 1996 to 1999. His defeat convinced him that he needed to make Israeli society more pliant to him personally — specifically, by bending the press to his will: “I need my own media,” <a href="https://www.cjr.org/special_report/netanyahu-israeli-press.php">as he put it</a> at the time.
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<aside><q>Netanyahu’s opponents decided enough was enough: two years of chaos and elections needed to come to an end</q></aside>
</div>
After his return to the top job, he seems to have tried to turn this proposal into action, allegedly <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/11/21/20974465/benjamin-netanyahu-indicted-bribery-corruption">attempting to trade political and regulatory favors for favorable coverage</a> in two other outlets, the leading daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth (Latest News) and the popular online portal Walla! News. He seems to have <a href="https://www.cjr.org/special_report/netanyahu-israeli-press.php">succeeded with Walla</a>, allegedly reaching a secret deal to approve a merger that its parent company wanted in exchange for slanting the news in his direction.
The head of government attempting to suborn the independent media by handing out favors is not only undemocratic, but also quite possibly illegal. Israel’s attorney general, the conservative Avichai Mandelblit, announced in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/28/benjamin-netanyahu-corruption-charges-decision-expected-today">February 2019</a> that he would seek to indict the prime minister on a series of corruption and bribery-related charges — including ones that carried up to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-netanyahu-explainer/explainer-netanyahus-legal-woes-how-much-trouble-is-he-in-idUSKBN1WH19W">10 years of jail time</a>.
By the time of the second election in September 2019, Netanyahu’s maneuvering to avoid prosecution had become increasingly dangerous to Israeli democracy. His allies in the Likud party had already proposed a law that would <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/netanyahu-loyalists-immunity-bill-is-causing-a-stir-in-israel/2019/05/21/9353b64c-7bcd-11e9-b1f3-b233fe5811ef_story.html">grant Netanyahu immunity from prosecution while in office</a>, allowing him to get away with what looks like an assault on democratic institutions.
The September election was inconclusive: Netanyahu did not have enough support to hold office, but the opposition was too internally divided to form any kind of government. A third election, held in March 2020, had similar results. The outcome was a temporary unity government, designed primarily to respond to the coronavirus outbreak while sidelining the issue of Bibi’s prosecution.
Netanyahu <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/12/22/949253408/israel-to-hold-4th-election-in-2-years-as-coalition-fails-to-pass-budget">blew up this fragile agreement in December</a>, gambling that a fourth election would get him enough votes to form a more stable right-wing government. But he failed: That election, held in March, yielded the current Knesset.
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<figcaption>United Arab List party leader Mansour Abbas speaks to reporters after joining a coalition that forced Benjamin Netanyahu out of office on June 2.</figcaption>
<cite>Amir Levy/Getty Images</cite></figure>
This time around, Netanyahu’s opponents decided enough was enough: Two years of chaos and elections needed to come to an end.
Lapid, whose Yesh Atid party won the most votes of any in the anti-Netanyahu camp, made a series of agreements with parties across the political spectrum to form the new coalition. This included not only Netanyahu’s longstanding opponents on the left and center, but also right-wing leaders who had previously been either ministers in Netanyahu’s cabinet or members of his own party.
The thing bringing these factions together is their shared belief that the chaos of the last two years must end. The only way to do that, they reasoned, is to take Netanyahu out of the top job.
“Netanyahu will not be able to get a majority [in a fifth election] and then we will go to a sixth election,” Bennett, the leader of Yamina, <a href="https://www.axios.com/israel-netanyahu-bennett-oust-change-government-7f8165db-1f1b-4d85-9c03-0230f9a7fe82.html">said during coalition discussions</a>. “The country can’t continue like that.”
And now, as a result, Netanyahu has lost the top job — and will be forced to deal with <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/netanyahu-trial-judges-press-pms-lawyers-to-focus-on-big-picture-669811">his currently ongoing criminal trial without the power of the premiership</a>.
Now, Bennett will serve as prime minister — a job he’ll keep for two years while Lapid serves as foreign minister. After two years, they will rotate, with Lapid taking the top position and Bennett in the cabinet. During the whole period, both of them will have veto power over policy — so even while Bennett is nominally Lapid’s boss, the latter will be able to block the former’s moves at will.
This complex power-sharing agreement is necessary to address the disagreements between these two men in particular and the coalition parties in general. In most of the key policy areas facing Israel, this government will be unable to agree on significant changes.
Take what’s arguably the country’s most important issue: the conflict with the Palestinians. On this, Bennett and Lapid have divergent views. Bennett supports annexing much of the West Bank and opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, while <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/yair-lapid-interview-may-2020">Lapid supports a two-state solution</a> negotiated with the Palestinian leadership. The broader coalition is similarly divided, containing both hawkish factions like Yisrael Beiteinu and dovish ones like Meretz.
Any major actions on the Palestinians, in either an aggressive or conciliatory direction, would divide the change coalition bitterly. The most likely result is that, as long as this government is in power, the conflict will basically remain stuck <a href="https://www.vox.com/22430488/israel-gaza-war-2021-hamas-sheikh-jarrah">in its abysmal status quo</a>.
“If [the coalition] stays together, then it will necessarily mean inertia on the issues that affect Palestinians,” says Khaled Elgindy, director of the program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli affairs at the Middle East Institute. “Occupation, settlements, evictions, demolitions, [and the] Gaza blockade continue as they are.”
This is the case on a series of key issues that divide the Israeli left and right, like whether Israel’s courts have gone too far in protecting individual rights. Such controversial topics will, in general, remain untouched by the change coalition — tinkered with at the edges, perhaps, but unaffected in any large way.
“The limits on any contentious action are real. In some ways their mandate will be to just govern,” says Natan Sachs, director of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1623640067_3504_958582" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22638539,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mZ4LmHfqembj6WncFDt1cjGTIhg=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UMLYcc3goM_CGj7uNb53jjIrleM=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NFOY86OLCDGqQcSBzD4LXG3BbCU=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QREmpRaSvyACvwfVQPr170BwDQU=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BccMetVSool32lAPcneGrL_OHsM=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qyfw12Eapm2caUZyFK9WaLcz6A8=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IcgBhA7DzGncU5E9ZaMDtx8_n90=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JXSZqpogUoPHOLDUhRnwwNHAOfE=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TAutuQUrAXfKJaME0BXCfC_Zxfg=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="3000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4ewtWeWOai08hv9jwu0m8pM-jpk=/0x0:3000x2000/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pm8INSa52dgTJta4Q1oxj55HF9g=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/aHipctRxuAc75yo-50r43jDZpg0=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_10-d8nurUkTqLMnD6ijYCTN9kg=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OMb29ULj3DE7T63AD4hbJiVhWnU=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xx1G2oL1cCYQsazUJ0yPPstGX2I=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5ZezHvME-h-BM_m4xqytfu29CmE=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6GtBMleMpYAE2oi-gvzzuFe099A=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BrD7IhNUxb4L3EOgPSN56EwOojg=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zcPHTxSURaA7NGeNrrnI1ia4dCw=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22638539/GettyImages_1233227477_copy.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>Israel’s newest prime minister, Naftali Bennett, left, and Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid seen speaking during a session of the Knesset on June 2.</figcaption>
<cite>Ronen Zvulun/AFP/Getty Images</cite></figure>
Nonetheless, there are some exceptions to this rule — areas where the new government could actually make a difference.
First, there’s the area that prompted Yisrael Beiteinu to break with Netanyahu all the way back in April 2019: the relationship between synagogue and state.
In the past, Israel’s ultra-Orthodox parties have been willing to throw their lot in with governments on both the left and the right so long as the government preserves their privileged status in Israeli law. But in the current standoff, the ultra-Orthodox parties chose to back Netanyahu — and now, as a result, are locked out of power. The right-wing parties in the current coalition are, by the standards of the Israeli right, relatively secular.
Judy Maltz, a reporter at the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, suggests there are still constraints in this area: Both Yamina and Ra’am, the Islamist party, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-civil-marriage-unlikely-kotel-deal-for-sure-what-the-new-israeli-gov-t-will-mean-1.9871927?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=content&utm_campaign=haaretz-news&utm_content=653747ba89">will block some moves toward a more secular society</a>. But at the same time, there are some areas — including reductions in special funding for the ultra-Orthodox, support for public transit on Shabbat, and non-Orthodox prayer at the Western Wall — where policy change is possible.
Second, there might also be some ability to improve the status of Palestinian citizens of Israel (also known as Arab Israelis). The very fact that one of this group’s leaders is in government for the first time — sharing power with right-wing politicians with a history of anti-Arab agitation — is a testament to the rising influence and growing legitimacy that Arab Israelis have in the Jewish-dominated political mainstream.
To keep Ra’am happy, the new coalition will need to provide concrete accomplishments that its members can show to its long-marginalized constituents. The party’s leader, Mansour Abbas, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-king-bibi-wasn-t-the-only-big-myth-shattered-in-israel-this-week-1.9871622">has already demanded</a> more funding for infrastructure in Arab communities and an end to building codes that disadvantage Arabs — but there’s much more the coalition could do.
One of the top issues for Arab Israelis is a surge in Arab organized crime that has led to a murder epidemic; in 2019, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/arab-communities-shattered-as-organized-crime-fuels-record-levels-of-bloodshed/">71 percent of Israeli murder victims were Arab</a>, despite Palestinian citizens making up only 21 percent of the Israeli population. The Netanyahu government failed to adequately address this problem with police resources; perhaps, the new one will.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the change in government opens up prospects for political change.
For 20 years, the political right has dominated Israeli politics. Right-wing dominance empowered Netanyahu to both deepen the occupation of the West Bank and assault democracy inside Israel’s borders — <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/2/27/21075868/israeli-democracy-war-netanyahu">two trends that are closely related</a>.
Dethroning Netanyahu won’t put a stop to the occupation, nor will it entirely stop Israel’s slide away from democracy. But by ending Netanyahu’s chokehold on Israeli politics, it will create the possibilities for a move beyond the political status quo. Dahlia Scheindlin, an Israeli political strategist and fellow at the Century Foundation, puts the point well in a piece for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/02/anti-netanyahu-coalition-government-israelis-ready-for-change">the Guardian</a>:
<blockquote>
Part of Netanyahu’s staying power has been the snowball effect of consolidating power. Voters cannot imagine anyone else governing, hence the oft-heard refrain “There’s no one else but him”. A new government would demonstrate that there is. If the rotation for prime minister goes as planned, from Bennett to Lapid, citizens will see that there are even two someone elses. That’s healthy for democracy.
</blockquote>
Of course, it’s also possible that things go the other way. Once Netanyahu is out of the picture, perhaps even in jail, his Likud party will be free to join with the right-wing members of the coalition and the religious parties in a far-right coalition.
But that’s the nature of change: It’s unpredictable. Whether it ends up being for better or for worse in the long run is hard to say, but what’s clear is that some kind of change is finally coming to Israeli politics.
“I’m not optimistic about Israel, ever,” says Hadas Aron, a professor at New York University who studies Israeli politics. “But I do think it’s not meaningless that someone else will be in government, that something else could at least have the potential to rise.”
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/6/13/22464927/benjamin-netanyahu-prime-minister-vote-naftali-bennett">https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/6/13/22464927/benjamin-netanyahu-prime-minister-vote-naftali-bennett</a>

vox The fall of “King Bibi”

Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, having held the job continuously since 2009. Now, finally, the reign o...

Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Accept Bitcoins When Miners Use More Clean Energy

<div class="ins_instory_dv">
<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Accept Bitcoins When Miners Use More Clean Energy" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-06/q5fhc07o_tesla-logo_625x300_02_June_21.jpg" title="Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Accept Bitcoins When Miners Use More Clean Energy" /></div>
In February, Tesla revealed it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin (File)
</div>
Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk tweeted on Sunday that the electric carmarker will resume allowing bitcoin transactions when miners who verify transactions use more renewable energy.
"When there's confirmation of reasonable clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing Bitcoin transactions," he said in a tweet.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This is inaccurate. Tesla only sold ~10% of holdings to confirm BTC could be liquidated easily without moving market.
When there's confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing Bitcoin transactions.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1404132183254523905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
Bitcoin rose 5.1% to $37,360.63 at 1810 GMT (2:10 p.m. ET) on Sunday, adding $1,817.87 to its previous close, after Musk's tweet.
Musk also said that Tesla sold about 10% of holdings to confirm bitcoin could be liquidated easily without moving market.
He announced in May that Tesla would no longer accept bitcoin for car purchases, citing long-brewing environmental concerns for a swift reversal in the company's position on the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin fell more than 10% after his tweet.
The billionaire said that he believed cryptocurrency has a promising future, but it cannot be at great cost to the environment.
In February, Tesla revealed it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin and would accept it as a form of payment for cars. 
 
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/elon-musk-says-tesla-will-accept-bitcoins-when-miners-use-more-clean-energy-2463128">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/elon-musk-says-tesla-will-accept-bitcoins-when-miners-use-more-clean-energy-2463128</a>

news world Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Accept Bitcoins When Miners Use More Clean Energy

In February, Tesla revealed it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin (File) Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk tweeted on Sunday t...

Joe Biden Welcomes New Israeli Government, Reaffirms Security Support

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Joe Biden Welcomes New Israeli Government, Reaffirms Security Support" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-04/7hh5irlg_joe-biden-afp_625x300_07_April_21.jpg" title="Joe Biden Welcomes New Israeli Government, Reaffirms Security Support" /></div>
Joe Biden welcomed the new government coalition led by Naftali Bennett (File)
</div>
Washington:
U.S. President Joe Biden said the United States remained committed to Israel's security and would work with its new government after Israel's parliament ended Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year run as prime minister on Sunday.
In a statement that made no mention of Netanyahu, Biden welcomed the new government coalition led by nationalist Naftali Bennett and sought to reaffirm U.S.-Israel ties.
"I look forward to working with Prime Minister Bennett to strengthen all aspects of the close and enduring relationship between our two nations," Biden said. "Israel has no better friend than the United States."
"United States remains unwavering in its support for Israel's security," Biden said. "My administration is fully committed to working with the new Israeli government to advance security, stability, and peace for Israelis, Palestinians, and people throughout the broader region."
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken also issued statements welcoming their counterparts in the new Israeli government.
Bennett, a former defense minister and a high-tech millionaire, won by a thin 60-59 majority vote, and the coalition of left-wing, centrist, right-wing and Arab parties is likely to be fragile.
Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, vowed to return to power soon.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/joe-biden-welcomes-new-israeli-government-reaffirms-security-support-2463126">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/joe-biden-welcomes-new-israeli-government-reaffirms-security-support-2463126</a>

news world Joe Biden Welcomes New Israeli Government, Reaffirms Security Support

Joe Biden welcomed the new government coalition led by Naftali Bennett (File) Washington: U.S. President Joe Biden said the United Stat...

Queen Elizabeth Reminded Me Of My Mother, Says Joe Biden

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Queen Elizabeth Reminded Me Of My Mother, Says Joe Biden" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-03/4iaeh19_joe-biden-afp650_625x300_26_March_21.jpg" title="Queen Elizabeth Reminded Me Of My Mother, Says Joe Biden" /></div>
The Bidens became the fourth president and first lady the queen has received at Windsor.
</div>
London:
U.S. President Joe Biden said Britain's Queen Elizabeth reminded him of his mother and that she had asked about China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin as they had tea at Windsor Castle on Sunday.
Biden lavished praise on the 95-year-old British monarch after their private meeting which came at the conclusion of the Group of Seven leaders' summit at which he called for concerted action on China and ahead of a meeting with Putin on Wednesday.
"I don't think she'd be insulted but she reminded me of my mother, the look of her and just the generosity," Biden, 78, told reporters shortly before departing London.
"She's extremely gracious, that's not surprising, but we had a great talk. She wanted to know what the two leaders that I -- the one I'm about to meet with, Mr Putin, and she wanted to know about Xi Jinping, and we had a long talk."
The monarch, attired in a bright pink floral outfit, had warmly greeted Biden and his wife Jill in the Quadrangle of the castle, home to the royal family for nearly 1,000 years, where they were treated to a taste of British pomp.
The president inspected a Guard of Honour formed of The Queen's Company First Battalion Grenadier Guards, which gave a Royal Salute, and the U.S. National Anthem was played before they entered the castle for tea.
"I said I wish we could stay longer, maybe we could hold the cars up a minute, and stuff. Anyway, she was very gracious," said the president who confirmed he had invited the monarch to the White House.
The queen had already met the Bidens on their visit to Britain. She hosted a reception for leaders of the Group of Seven rich nations and their spouses on Friday night in the southwestern English county of Cornwall where the three-day summit was held.
Ahead of that, Jill Biden said they had been looking forward to meeting the queen and that it was an exciting part of the visit for them.
The Bidens became the fourth president and first lady the queen has received at Windsor, following the Trumps in 2018, the Obamas in 2016, President George W. Bush and his wife in 2008 and the Reagans in 1982.
During her 69 years on the British throne, the longest reign of any English monarch, there have been 14 U.S. presidents, of which Elizabeth has met all bar Lyndon Johnson.
Despite the loss in April of Prince Philip, her 99-year-old husband of more than 70 years, and her age, the queen has shown her determination to carry on with her official duties as head of state during the high-profile G7 gathering.
After hosting the leaders on Friday where she cracked a joke during the official photocall, she provoked more laughter at another official engagement for a local project immediately afterwards when she cut a cake with a long ceremonial sword.
On Saturday, she was back in Windsor for a military parade to mark her official birthday, the first one she has marked without Philip.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/queen-elizabeth-reminded-me-of-my-mother-says-joe-biden-2463123">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/queen-elizabeth-reminded-me-of-my-mother-says-joe-biden-2463123</a>

news world Queen Elizabeth Reminded Me Of My Mother, Says Joe Biden

The Bidens became the fourth president and first lady the queen has received at Windsor. London: U.S. President Joe Biden said Britain...

Benjamin Netanyahu Ousted, Naftali Bennett Is Israel's New PM

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Benjamin Netanyahu Ousted, Naftali Bennett Is Israel's New PM" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-06/2bctmqtg_netanyahu_650x400_13_June_21.jpg" title="Benjamin Netanyahu Ousted, Naftali Bennett Is Israel's New PM" /></div>
Naftali Bennett will serve as prime minister for two years.
</div>
Jerusalem, Undefined:
A motley alliance of Israeli parties on Sunday ousted Benjamin Netanyahu, the country's longest-serving prime minister, and formed a new government in a seismic shift in the country's turbulent politics.
Naftali Bennett, a right-wing Jewish nationalist and former tech millionaire, was to take over at the helm of the eight-party bloc, united only by their shared disdain for the hawkish right-wing leader known as Bibi.
Netanyahu, 71, in typically combative style, vowed shortly before his defeat that "if it's our destiny to be in the opposition, we'll do so with our heads high until we take down this bad government and return to lead the country our way".
Beloved as "King Bibi" by his right-wing supporters and condemned as the "crime minister" by his critics, Netanyahu has long been the dominant, and increasingly divisive, figure in Israeli politics.
But on Sunday, a vote in the Knesset legislature following weeks of intense political drama ended his government with a razor-thin majority of 60 to 59 in the 120-seat chamber.
In Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, Netanyahu's opponents broke out in cheers and launched into an evening of joyous celebrations, having rallied in recent days with "Bye bye Bibi" placards. 
One of the demonstrators, Tal Surkis, 19, confessed to "mixed feelings" about the incoming change coalition, but said "it's something Israel needs".
Bennett, 49, in a Knesset speech before the vote, promised the new government, a coalition of ideologically divergent parties, "represents all of Israel".
He said the country, after four inconclusive elections in under two years, had been thrown "into a maelstrom of hatred and in-fighting".
"The time has come for different leaders, from all parts of the population, to stop, to stop this madness", he said, to angry shouts of "liar" and "criminal" from right-wing opponents.
Fragile coalition
Netanyahu, who is battling corruption charges in an ongoing trial he dismisses as a conspiracy, has been the dominant Israeli politician of his generation, having also served a previous three-year term in the 1990s.
His supporters have hailed him as a strong defender of Israel who has been tough on arch foe Iran, but also struck a series of historic normalisation deals with several Arab nations last year.
Being ousted from the top job will leave Netanyahu more exposed to his legal woes, because it denies him the chance to push through parliament changes to basic laws that could give him immunity.
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.
Netanyahu, true to his reputation as Israel's "Mr Security", charged that "Iran is celebrating" the launch of what he charged would be a "dangerous" and weak left-wing government.
The diverse anti-Netanyahu bloc was cobbled together by the secular centrist Yair Lapid, a former TV presenter.
It spans the political spectrum, including three right-wing, two centrist and two left-wing parties, along with an Arab Islamic conservative party.
Lapid, 57, is to serve as foreign minister for the next two years before taking over from Bennett.
'Scorched earth'
The improbable alliance emerged weeks after an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, and following inter-communal violence in Israeli cities with significant Arab populations.
Netanyahu, who long ago earned a reputation as Israel's ultimate political survivor, in his final days in office tried to peel off defectors, hoping to deprive the nascent coalition of its wafer-thin legislative majority, to no avail.
He accused Bennett of "fraud" for siding with rivals, and angry rallies by the premier's Likud party supporters resulted in security being bolstered for some lawmakers.
Netanyahu's opponents accused him and his allies of stoking tensions in a "scorched-earth" campaign.
Netanyahu's bombastic remarks as he saw his grip on power slip drew parallels at home and abroad to former US president Donald Trump, who described his election loss last year as the result of a rigged vote.
Sunday's vote came at a time of heightened tensions in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, which has grown more bitter in the Netanyahu years, in part due to the expansion of settlements considered illegal under international law in the occupied West Bank.
Meanwhile, right-wing anger has grown in Israel over last week's postponement of a controversial Jewish nationalist march through flashpoint areas of east Jerusalem.
The "March of the Flags" is now slated for Tuesday, and the agitation surrounding it could represent a key initial test for a new coalition government. 
Gaza's rulers Hamas said that the political developments in Jerusalem wouldn't change its relationship with Israel.
"The form the Israeli government takes doesn't change the nature of our relationship," said the group's spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.
"It's still a colonising and occupying power that we must resist."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/benjamin-netanyahu-ousted-naftali-bennett-is-israels-new-prime-minister-news-agency-afp-2463102">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/benjamin-netanyahu-ousted-naftali-bennett-is-israels-new-prime-minister-news-agency-afp-2463102</a>

news world Benjamin Netanyahu Ousted, Naftali Bennett Is Israel's New PM

Naftali Bennett will serve as prime minister for two years. Jerusalem, Undefined: A motley alliance of Israeli parties on Sunday ousted...