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The Executive Council of Aus­trali­an Jewry, the peak national rep­res­ent­at­ive body of the Aus­trali­an Jewish community con­grat­u­lates Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid on the formation of a new Israeli coalition gov­ern­ment. 

Under the terms of the coalition agreement, the prime min­is­ter­ship will rotate to Mr Lapid in August 2023.

The new gov­ern­ment is the most polit­ic­ally broad in Israel’s history with Mr Bennett’s and Mr Lapid’s parties joined by the centrist Blue and White, centre-left Labour Party, left-wing Meretz, secular Yisrael Beytenu, centre-right New Hope and the Arab Islamist party, Ra’am.

The new ministry also reflects the diversity of Israeli society. It includes an Ethiopian-born minister for Immig­ra­tion, a minister with a physical dis­ab­il­ity, a former IDF chief of staff, Israel’s first openly gay party leader, a minister from the Arab community, and immig­rants from the former Soviet Union.

The diversity of ideology and lived exper­i­ences in the new gov­ern­ment will be a source of strength in serving a society that is plur­al­ist­ic and complex. However, it will also pose con­sid­er­able chal­lenges given the competing policy pri­or­it­ies and outlooks of the coalition parties.

We trust that stability will be restored to Israel’s political system and public sector and that the new gov­ern­ment will work with wisdom, skill and unre­mit­ting ded­ic­a­tion and devotion for the unity of the Jewish people and the security and welfare of the people of Israel.

We also extend our best wishes to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving prime minister. Mr Netanyahu’s dip­lo­mat­ic and economic achieve­ments will long endure.