Israel’s Bennett Hands Premiership to Foreign Minister Lapid, Won’t Seek Reelection

Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid (L) speaks to outgoing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, during a meeting at the Knesset (parliament), in Jerusalem on June 30, 2022. Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images

Outgoing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett handed over Israeli premiership to Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday after lawmakers voted to dissolve parliament (Knesset).

The Knesset dissolution followed the collapse of Bennett’s ruling coalition and opened the way for a Nov. 1 election that will be Israel’s fifth in less than four years.