On Sunday, Israel’s parliament (Knesset) will convene and is expected to vote in favor of a new government, ending Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year reign as prime minister. It is anticipated the vote will usher in a “change government”—a coalition of eight different political parties that plan to use a rotation system to fill the prime minister’s seat. Naftali Bennett, leader of the New Right Party, will initially serve as prime minister for two years, followed by Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid for two years. For the first time in Israel’s history, an Israeli Arab party will be part of the government.
Professor Amos Guiora of the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah is in Israel and is available to explain what is happening, the historic nature of this event, how it will impact American policy in the Middle East and to provide background on the new leadership expected to assume governance of the country.
Guiora served for 19 years in the Israel Defense Forces as Lieutenant Colonel (retired), and held several senior command positions, including legal advisor to the Gaza Strip and commander of the IDF School of Military Law. Professor Guiora has published extensively both in the U.S. and Europe on issues related to national security, limits of interrogation, religion and terrorism, the limits of power, multiculturalism, and human rights. He is the author of several books and book chapters, including “The Crime of Complicity: The Bystander in the Holocaust” (translated into Chinese and Dutch); “In the Crosshairs of Unfettered Executive Power: The Moral Dilemmas of Justifying and Carrying Out Targeted Killings”; and “Targeted Killings: Defining and Applying the Limits of Military Ethics.”
Professor Guiora may be reached by email at amos.guiora@law.utah.edu or by telephone at 216-470-6386 (given the time difference, please text if there is not an immediate answer).
