Benjamin Netanyahu has returned to power as Israel’s prime minister as a new governing coalition was sworn in on Thursday.
Netanyahu was ousted from office last year by a coalition of eight parties united in their opposition to his rule after four deadlocked elections.
Netanyahu who was on trial for corruption is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister.
He held office from 2009 until 2021 and a stint in the 1990s.
The coalition that ousted him broke apart in June, and Netanyahu and his Likud party won the most seats in November’s election.
Netanyahu’s new right-wing coalition includes both nationalist and ultra-Orthodox parties and has pledged to prioritize settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
“These are the basic lines of the national government headed by me: The Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the Land of Israel,” Netanyahu tweeted Wednesday.
“The government will promote and develop settlement in all parts of the Land of Israel — in the Galilee, the Negev, the Golan, Judea and Samaria.”
“The government will work to recognize the Golan Heights as a strategic region of land, with wide development potential, and will create a momentum of settlement, development, development and promotion of entrepreneurship while preserving the values of nature, people and the environment that are unique to the Golan,” he added.
He continued by saying the new government “will work to significantly deepen the cooperation with the countries of the ‘Abraham Accords,'” which were brokered by the Trump administration and saw Israel sign peace deals with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
Netanyahu also vowed to “protect the quality of the environment in Israel, to improve the quality of life of the country’s residents and for Israel to participate in contributing to the global effort on climate and environmental issues,” as well as “strengthen the security forces, and provide support to the fighters and the police to fight terrorism and defeat it.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
