Jerusalem [Israel], December 30: Netanyahu's cabinet has promised to expand illegal settlements in occupied West Bank and pursue other anti-Palestinian policies.
Israel's parliament has sworn in Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister, inaugurating the country's most far-right, religiously conservative government in history.
Netanyahu, 73, took the oath of office on Thursday, moments after Israel's parliament, or Knesset, passed a vote of confidence in his new government. Of the parliament's 120 members, 63 voted in favour of the new government, with 54 votes against.
His swearing in marks a personal return to power and the arrival of a government that has sparked fears among Palestinians as well as left-wing Israelis.
Al Jazeera's Sara Khairat, reporting from West Jerusalem, said this has been in the making for almost two months and is "quite a victory for Benjamin Netanyahu", who partnered up with a coalition that includes "a mix of an ultra-Orthodox and right-wing bloc".
The coalition, Khairat said, includes some of the most "right-wing politicians we've seen". "They were on the fringes of politics and now here they are on the main stage."
"Even though locals we've spoken to have said that yes, the process is democratic, they are very deeply concerned about the laws that have been put through," she said from outside the parliament, where left-wing Israelis had gathered to protest.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
