The head of Israel’s domestic security service issued a rare warning on Saturday of possible violence during one of the most politically charged periods in decades, with the country on the verge of unseating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, its longest-serving leader, reports Reuters.
The swearing in of Israel's new government could be overshadowed by a possible outbreak of violence as nationalist Israelis plan a flag march in Jerusalem's Old City https://t.co/2utuv955pB
— dpa news agency (@dpa_intl) June 5, 2021
Netanyahu is facing the prospect of an end to his 12-year run as premier after Israel’s centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid announced on Wednesday that he had succeeded in forming a governing coalition following a March 23 election.
The new government, yet to be sworn in, is an unlikely patchwork of left-wing, liberal, rightist, nationalist and religious parties, as well as – for the first time in Israel’s history – an Arab Islamist party.
The new government, yet to be sworn in, is an unlikely patchwork of left-wing, liberal, rightist, nationalist and religious parties, as well as – for the first time in #Israel's history – an #Arab Islamist party https://t.co/O3yPVYSjtP
— The Daily Star (@dailystarnews) June 6, 2021
Netanyahu in online posts has warned the partnership was “a dangerous leftist government.”
Some right-wing groups are angry at Naftali Bennett, head of a small ultra-nationalist party who is slated to replace Netanyahu in a power-sharing pact with Lapid, garnering many postings attacking him on social media.
Tensions could flare further this week when a Jewish right-wing march is expected to pass through Jerusalem’s Old City’s Damascus gate.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
