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Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Wednesday that he will not seek reelection.
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The announcement comes in the aftermath of the governing coalition collapsing earlier this month.
The coalition was cobbled together with a tenuous power-sharing agreement between Bennett and Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid. The leaders agreed to join forces in a bid to drive longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu from power last June.
Bennett was the country’s first Orthodox Jewish prime minister and was set to hold the prime minister’s office for two years before handing it off to Lapid. While Bennett held the higher office, the agreement offered Lapid almost as much authority, allowing him equal power to reject bills brought before the Knesset.
Lapid thanked Bennett in a tweet Wednesday.
“My brother Naftali, thank you in my name and in the name of all the people of Israel,” Lapid said.
Last week, Bennett announced the governing coalition would be dissolved and elections would be held for the fifth time in three years. The new elections are widely seen as an opportunity for former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to return to power.
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Elections for a new government are likely to take place at the end of October, according to reports.
