Israel Gets Its First Religious Prime Minister

While there is much about the new prime minister Naftali Bennett that is unusual—the small size of his party, the parliamentary gridlock that preceded his formation of the government, the heterogeneity of the coalition he leads—perhaps most noteworthy is that he is the first religiously observant head of Israel’s government. Oddly, his victory signals a loss for both the ḥaredi parties and for the Religious Zionist party that Bennett himself once led, albeit under a different name. Bennett’s chief coalition partner, who will succeed him in two years per a rotation agreement, is Yair Lapid—the embodiment of the secular, liberal Tel Aviv elite. Likewise his other partners include two secular left-wing parties and an avowedly secular right-wing party; the only other religious party in the government is Muslim.