Neri Zilber Photo: Supplied
Israel’s governing coalition is about to mark its first anniversary on June 13, however recent events have raised questions around how much longer it can last.
Earlier this week, a bill that allows a half-million Israeli settlers to live under civilian law in the West Bank failed to pass during a vote by the Knesset. The bill has routinely passed every five years since 1967. Many Knesset members voted against their own fundamental beliefs in an effort to either bring down the coalition, or save it.
The Bennett-Lapid coalition is the most representative in Israeli history, spanning eight-parties from the right, left, centre — and for the first time in Israeli history, an Arab-Israeli political party.
Neri Zilber is a journalist and political analyst based in Tel Aviv. He has written for Financial Times, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, The Daily Beast and more.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, right, with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, as he chairs chairs the first weekly cabinet meeting of the new government in Jerusalem, on 20 June 2021. Photo: AFP
