Israel’s 21st Knesset was sworn in Tuesday afternoon, three weeks after a tightly contested election that ended with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc in the lead.
President Reuven Rivlin asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form the country’s 35th government, giving him 28 days to do so. Netanyahu can request an extension of 14 additional days if he struggles to form a governing coalition.
41 members of the new 120-member Knesset are newly elected to the Israeli parliament. The new Knesset voted to re-elected Likud’s Yuli Edelstein as speaker, with four abstentions and no votes against him.
Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony in Jerusalem, President Rivlin asked the new Knesset to “put an end to the dangerous clash between the legislative authority and the courts. I hope that the 21st Knesset will make a historic move by passing the Basic Law for Legislation, to set the groundwork for a future constitution”.
He added that one of the Knesset’s biggest tasks in this term is “to fight for our togetherness”.
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, who was Netanyahu’s principle challenger during the election campaign, told his party that he will lead the opposition.
