Netanyahu takes PM seat as Israel's new far-right government sworn in

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has presented to his new cabinet amid yelling on the Knesset floor and protests outside.

Mazal Mualem
Mazal Mualem
Dec 29, 2022
AMIR COHEN/AFP via Getty Images
Right-wing Knesset members Itamar Ben-Gvir (2nd R) and Bezalel Smotrich (R) attend a special session at the Knesset to approve and swear in a new right-wing government, in Jerusalem on Dec. 29, 2022. — AMIR COHEN/AFP via Getty Images

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented his new government to the Israeli Knesset on Thursday and the swearing-in ceremony was set to take place in afternoon.

The last government, first under Naftali Bennett and then by Yair Lapid, lasted only 18 months. During this period, and while standing trial for bribery and fraud, Netanyahu served as opposition head. 

Netanyahu was first elected prime minister in 1996, at the age of 47. Now at 73, after 15 non-consecutive years at the helm of the country, he is heading his sixth cabinet.

With 29 names on Netanyahu’s apparently incomplete ministerial list, his cabinet is set to be one of the largest in Israel’s history but will include only four female ministers.  

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