EU Council President Charles Michel congratulated the new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in a message posted on Twitter on Sunday after an alliance of parties ousted Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Looking forward to strengthen(ing) the (EU-Israel) partnership for common prosperity and towards lasting regional peace & stability,” he tweeted.
The European Council represents the European Union’s member states.
Bennett, a right-wing Jewish nationalist, and former tech millionaire takes over at the helm of an Israeli government pieced together by an eight-party coalition.
Their alliance ended Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12 years in power.
Bennett, a former defence minister under Netanyahu, vowed to keep Israel safe from Iran, promising that “Israel won’t let Iran have nuclear weapons”, a goal the Islamic republic denies pursuing.
The diverse anti-Netanyahu bloc was cobbled together by the secular centrist Yair Lapid a former TV presenter.
It spans the political spectrum, with three right-wing, two centrists, and two left-wing parties, and even an Arab Islamic conservative party.
