NETANYAHU ERA FINALLY ENDS IN ISRAEL: Benjamin Netanyahu was so distraught over his ouster as Israeli premier after 12 years that he shied away from a handover ceremony with Naftali Bennett, who took the reins as PM on Sunday. Bennett is also a hard-right politician like Netanyahu, and mirrors his views on many issues. In fact, it could be argued that Bennett is even more hardline that his former mentor. Israeli analysts pointed out that Netanyahu was grumpy and bitter till the end. But writing Bibi off would be a big mistake. The combative former PM will now work really hard to topple Bennett’s government. And given the fragility of Israeli coalitions, the new government, formed with a razor-thin 60-59 backing in the Knesset, is anything but guaranteed to last the full term. [COMMENT BY: Omar Shariff, International Editor]
AFP