Thirty-sixth government of Israel
The thirty-sixth government of Israel, or the Bennett–Lapid government, was the cabinet of Israel that was formed on 13 June 2021 after the 2021 Israeli legislative election. On 2 June 2021, a coalition agreement was signed between Yesh Atid, Blue and White, Yamina, the Labor Party, Yisrael Beiteinu, New Hope, Meretz, and the United Arab List. The cabinet was succeeded by the thirty-seventh government of Israel, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, on 29 December 2022. The government had two prime ministers during its existence. Namely, under a rotation agreement, Naftali Bennett of Yamina initially served as Prime Minister but ultimately ceded the position to Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid, after the coalition fell on June 30, 2022. Lapid became Prime Minister on July 1, 2022. Due to the collapse of the government, Lapid served as caretaker Prime Minister until elections were held on November 1, 2022. Yamina and Yesh Atid became the fourth and fifth parties, respectively, to lead an Israeli government – following Mapai/Labor Party (1948–1977; 1984–1986; 1992–1996; 1999–2001), Herut/Likud (1977–1984; 1986–1992; 1996–1999; 2001–2005; 2009–2021), and Kadima (2005–2009). The government was the first to include an independent Arab Israeli party as an official member of the governing coalition. It was Israel's second government, after the Netanyahu-Gantz rotation government, to function under an automatic and legally-binding system of rotation in the position of prime minister. The investiture vote in the Knesset was held on 13 June 2021. The Bennett-Lapid government was confirmed by a vote of 60 to 59, with one MK from the United Arab List abstaining. Bennett was thus sworn in as Israel's 13th prime minister, with Lapid serving as alternate prime minister. Background President Reuven Rivlin met with all elected parties and received their recommendations for prime minister on 5 April 2021, and gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the mandate on 6 April. This was the first time in Israel's history where there were recommendations for three candidates (Netanyahu, Yair Lapid, and Naftali Bennett), rather than two, after the legislative election. Netanyahu was given a mandate to form a new government by the end of 4 May, but he failed to form a government by the deadline. April recommendations May recommendations Government formation The 2021 election once more produced a hung Knesset, with neither the pro-Netanyahu right-wing bloc (Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism, and Religious Zionist Party; with 52 seats) nor the ideologically diverse non-Arab anti-Netanyahu opposition (Yesh Atid, Blue and White, Labor Party, Yisrael Beiteinu, New Hope, and Meretz; with 51 seats) winning enough seats to form a new government outright (61 seats are needed for an absolute majority). This left the conservative Yamina and the two Arab political factions, the Joint List and United Arab List, as the potential kingmakers for a Knesset majority. Yamina leader Naftali Bennett stated that his first preference was the formation of a right-wing government, while his second choice would be the establishment of a broader "national unity government", to avoid a fifth election in just over two years time. Even