ISRAEL’S PARLIAMENT APPROVES NATIONAL EMERGENCY UNITY GOVERNMENT – Netanyahu determined to fight fight the war with Hamas in Gaza
Israel’s parliament approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency unity government, including a number of centrist opposition lawmakers, to display its determination to fight the war with Hamas in Gaza.
The government, approved after Saturday’s attack by the militant Islamist group Hamas that governs the Gaza Strip, underlines the suspension of normal political rules during one of the most serious crises in Israel’s history.
Under the agreement, former Defence Minister Benny Gantz and members of his small centrist party will join Netanyahu’s coalition, one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history, which Gantz had previously bitterly opposed.
The leader of the largest opposition party in parliament, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, refused to join the unity government which includes extreme right-wingers, among them Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
