Israeli Prime Minister Will Step Down, Knesset Will Dissolve

Israeli Prime Minister Will Step Down, , Knesset Will Dissolve.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will be replaced by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, a centrist.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will be replaced by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, a centrist.

The government Bennett oversaw was the first to be formed with an Arab politcal party.

It will disband due to a stalemate over whether to extend certain rights to Jewish settlers in the West Bank which are not extended to Palestinians in the same region.

We did everything we could to preserve this government.

Believe me, we turned over every stone, Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister of Israel, via NPR.

Elections will likely be held in the fall.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will attempt to regain power.

Centrist Prime Minister Yair Lapid is scheduled to meet President Joe Biden in July.

Our working assumption is still that the trip will go forward as planned, U.S. Embassy to Israel, via NPR.

Analysts say that, while the most recent government was short-lived, it was historically important.

While this government was one of Israel's shortest to hold office, , Yohanan Plesner, Israel Democracy Institute, via NPR.

... it played an historical role by including an Arab party in the coalition and in the decisions made by the national leadership, , Yohanan Plesner, Israel Democracy Institute, via NPR.

... and therefore paving the way for the possibility of more inclusion by the Arab minority in the political process and Israeli society as a whole, Yohanan Plesner, Israel Democracy Institute, via NPR.

The head of the Arab Islamist Party also cited to historic nature of the former government.

This is a historic step.

It's still on its way.

We have only begun, Mansour Abbas, Head of the Arab Islamist Party, via NPR