‘No difference’: Palestinians react to Israeli coalition deal

Many Palestinians sceptical that a change in Israeli government due to replace PM Netanyahu will improve their lives.

Many Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza have dismissed a change in the Israeli government, saying the nationalist leader due to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would likely pursue the same right-wing agenda. Naftali Bennett, the 49-year-old former head of Israel’s main West Bank settler organisation and ex-Netanyahu ally, would be the country’s new leader under a patchwork coalition. Opposition and centrist leader Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid and Bennett declared on Wednesday night they had reached a deal to form a new government to unseat the incumbent Netanyahu after a 12-year run as prime minister.