Israel's Most Right-Wing Government: Key Dates
Benjamin Netanyahu became prime minister of Israel for a second time in 2009, after a first spell between 1996 and 1999.
Following a general election in March 2015, he formed a fourth government that is widely regarded as the most right-wing in Israeli history. Here are some key dates.
- Settlement boost -
In May 2015, Netanyahu forms a coalition of right-wing and religious parties that holds a slender majority of 61 seats in the 120-seat parliament.
A year later, he adds the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party to his governing coalition, appointing its leader Avigdor Lieberman as defense minister and securing a solid majority for the most right-wing government in Israel's history.
The government relies heavily on the support of parties linked to the Israeli settler movement and approves the construction of hundreds of new homes in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Projects that were kept on hold under the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, which blamed settlement expansion for the failure of peace efforts with the Palestinians, are given the go-ahead in rapidly increasing numbers after Trump's inauguration in January 2017.
In June 2017, Israel starts work on Amichai, the first entirely new government-approved settlement since 1991.
- Trump support -
In December 2017, Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital, breaking with decades of international consensus and outraging the Palestinians who regard east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
The Palestinians cut all contact with the Trump administration, which responds by cutting hundreds of million of dollars in aid.
In May 2018, Washington transfers its embassy to Jerusalem on the 70th anniversary of Israel's creation, prompting a deadly flare-up of protests along the Gaza-Israel border in which more than 60 Palestinians are killed.
In March 2019, Trump formally recognizes Israel's 1981 annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights in a new boost for Netanyahu.
- Gaza protests -
In March 2018, regular mass protests are launched along the Gaza-Israel border demanding the right for Palestinians to return to land now in Israel that their families fled or were expelled from during the creation of the Jewish state in 1948.
The protests draw a deadly response from the Israeli army, in which around 200 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier have been killed.
The protests are accompanied by repeated flare-ups between Israel and Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas that have raised fears they will be drawn into their fourth war since 2008.
Truces brokered by Egypt and the United Nations have so far restored calm on each occasion.
A November truce sees Netanyahu agree to allow millions in Qatari aid into Gaza, prompting Lieberman to resign as defense minister, saying Israel is "capitulating to terror."
The fallout from the resignation prompts Netanyahu to call an early election for April 9.
- Corruption charges -
In February 2019, Netanyahu's most formidable challenger, former military chief Benny Gantz, announces the formation of a centrist electoral alliance in a bid to defeat him.
The same month, the attorney general announces his intention to indict Netanyahu on charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery, on the recommendation of police.
In March, the justice ministry says Netanyahu will face a hearing after the election to answer the charges.
The prospect of a trial does not exclude Netanyahu from office -- that only happens after conviction and the exhaustion of all avenues of appeal -- but it has added to the political pressure on him.
