Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his sixth term in office in Israel this week.
According to CBN News, Netanyahu was sworn in Thursday morning despite protests against his taking on the role.
He spoke after the ceremony, saying he planned on working on preventing Iran’s threat to Israel, but he was blasted by shouts from protestors.
“Knesset members, I don’t have to hear your shouts to know we have some disagreements,” he said, “but some things we agree upon.”
“Losing elections isn’t the end of democracy – it’s the essence of democracy,” he said.
Some 18 months ago, Netanyahu was ousted from the prime minister role, but in November, he won an election by a slim margin. It was Israel’s fifth election in less than four years.
Previously, Netanyahu was Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. He held the role from 2009 to 2021 and also had a term in the late 1990s.
Netanyahu also said in his address that his Likud Party is hoping to form a coalition to “advance and develop a settlement in all parts of the land of Israel- in the Galilee, Negev, Golan Heights, and Judaea and Samaria.” According to experts, some of this land is considered “occupied” territory.
More than half a million Jews live in the West Bank and believe that international laws and accords give them the right to live there.
As part of his plan, Netanyahu has created a special ministerial role for settlement policies in the West Bank. Netanyahu’s administration believes “the Jewish people have exclusive and indisputable rights” over Israel and the West Bank territories.
Some 2.5 million Palestinians also live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The U.S., like other international groups, have said they support a two-state solution and believe Israel’s West Bank settlements are illegal.
Responding to Netanyahu’s return to the prime minister role, President Joe Biden said he looked forward to working with him “to jointly address the many challenges and opportunities facing Israel and the Middle East region, including threats from Iran.”
Biden also reiterated the U.S. position on a two-state solution, saying the U.S. would “oppose policies that endanger its viability or contradict our mutual interests and values.”
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Amir Levy/Stringer
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
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