Netanyahu's right-wing Israeli Cabinet to be sworn in on Thursday

The right-wing religious Israeli government led by incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to be sworn in on Thursday, Yariv Levin, the speaker of the Israeli parliament, announced on Monday.
The Knesset would hold a special session to conduct the swearing in, Levin said.
Before the ceremony, Netanyahu's group aims to push through a series of controversial legislative changes, among them a permitting Aryeh Deri, the head of the religious Shas party, to be sworn in as interior minister, despite a previous conviction for tax evasion.
A change in the law is also required for Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionist Party to hold a ministerial post in the Defence Ministry alongside his post as Finance Minister.
Smotrich, who strongly backs expanding Jewish settlements on the West Bank, will have a major influence on the administration of the West Bank and the lives of the Palestinians living there.
Another change concerns expanding the remit of the minister for national security. Right-wing extremist politician Itamar Ben-Gvir is to be appointed to the position, which will in future include responsibility for the border police on the West Bank alongside the police portfolio.
Outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid warned on Monday that Netanyahu's incoming government was mounting an attack on Israeli democracy. "This attack will not stop of its own accord. They will not suddenly fall in love with democracy," he said.
Terming the incoming government "completely crazy," he warned that if it was not stopped, things would "get much worse." Lapid said that Netanyahu's new extremist partners had identified the 73-year-old veteran politician's weak point as a corruption case, which has been running since 2020.
In response, Netanyahu accused Lapid of spreading lies about his government.