Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu new Prime Minister, Amir Ohana Speaker of Parliament

He returns to the throne.

Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in Thursday afternoon as Prime Minister of Israel, a few minutes after the vote of 63 deputies out of the 120 in Parliament.

The parliamentarians validated the formation of his government which integrates his party, the Likud (right), two ultra-Orthodox parties and three from the far right.

In the process, the mention "Prime Minister" appeared on his official Twitter account.

🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/woeI4sOxBk

— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) December 29, 2022

"King Bibi", nickname given to him by his supporters, begins his third reign at the head of the government.

He had been Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999, then from 2009 to 2021. Hoarse voice, silver hair and displayed charisma, Benjamin Netanyahu however divides the country.

His admirers see in him the incarnation of the new "King of Israel" for his strong defense of the country against the enemy, in particular Iran perceived as the new "Amalek", the mortal enemy of the Hebrews in the Bible.

As for his opponents, they consider Benjamin Netanyahu, charged with corruption in several cases, as a "Crime Minister" and not a "Prime Minister", and want him to withdraw from political life.

But he won't step down, says Aviv Bushinsky, a former spokesman for Netanyahu and a connoisseur of his right-wing Likud party.

Three far-right parties in his government

“He will do everything possible to form a coalition, even the craziest things,” Aviv Bushinsky told AFP recently.

"He thinks he received a mission from God to save the country."

In a politically fragmented country, Netanyahu is used to maneuvering around, rallying parties of different leanings, in order to stay in power.

But for this return to power on Thursday, he brought together the most right-wing government in the history of Israel, made up of his classic allies among the ultra-Orthodox parties, but also of three far-right parties, notably Noam, whose the chef is openly hostile to LGBTQ people.

A position that did not, however, prevent him from appointing Amir Ohana, 46, as the new Speaker of Parliament.

A first for an openly homosexual deputy in this country.

A deputy since 2015, he was the first homosexual to become a minister in Israel in 2019, when he was chosen as justice minister in the Netanyahu government.

This member of Likud (right), the party of Benjamin Netanyahu, was elected with 63 votes for, five against and one abstention in a vote of the deputies.

Also Minister of Internal Security between 2020 and 2021, he thus becomes the third personality of the country, after the President and the Prime Minister, according to the protocol.

Ohana accompanied by her spouse and their two children

"The Israeli parliament represents all citizens of Israel - Jews, Arabs, Druze, Circassians, seculars, religious, ultra-Orthodox, Sephardic, straight, Ashkenazi, LGBT," Amir Ohana told parliament, attended by his spouse and their two children.

"If a young boy or girl is watching this ceremony, let them know that regardless of who they are or where they come from, I want to tell them that you have the means to get where you want to go," he said. added.

He recalled in his first speech the humble origins of his immigrant parents from Morocco in the 1950s.

Read alsoIn Israel, the left denounces the “government of division” formed by Benyamin Netanyahu

The appointment of this close friend of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and member of his party, the right-wing Likud, comes as the new government, the most right-wing in the country's history, includes a small far-right party, " Noam”, openly hostile to LGBTQ people (lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer).

According to part of the Israeli press, the appointment of Amir Ohana notably allows Benjamin Netanyahu to calm things down in the face of strong criticism of his coalition and in particular of the homophobic statements of some of its members.

A coalition agreement signed between Likud and Avi Maoz, leader of the homophobic "Noam" party and head of an administration in charge of "Jewish identity" in the new government, shocked the LGBTQ community in Israel.

“We are going to study the legal possibilities of canceling Gay Pride,” he declared on military radio after the elections, for which he had joined the far-right formation “Religious Zionism”.

“I went to gay pride, I walked in Jerusalem, I walked in Tel Aviv and I plan to walk again.

There is no doubt in my mind that there will still be gay pride in Jerusalem (…).

Let us judge this government on its actions rather than on the declarations of certain politicians in the campaign,” the US ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, told the daily Haaretz recently.

The Jewish state is the best student in the Middle East with regard to LGBTQ rights.

In particular, it recognizes gay marriages concluded abroad.