Israel

      Netanyahu and his government were sworn in on Thursday for his sixth term as prime minister, 18 months after he was ousted from power.

He returns with the support of several far-right figures once consigned to the fringes of Israeli politics, after cobbling together a coalition shortly before last week’s deadline.

Members of Netanyahu’s Likud party will fill some of the most important cabinet positions, including foreign minister, defense minister and justice minister.

But a number of politicians from the far right of Israel’s political spectrum were set to be appointed to ministerial posts, despite controversy over their positions during the run-up to November’s election, which was won by a Netanyahu-led bloc of ultra-nationalist and ultra-religious parties.

As the new ministers were preparing to be sworn in at the Knesset, the country’s parliament, around 2,000 demonstrators gathered outside to protest Netanyahu’s return to the office, the Jerusalem Police spokesperson said.

The rightward shift in the Israeli government has raised eyebrows abroad and at home. On Wednesday, over 100 retired Israeli ambassadors and foreign ministry officials expressed concerns about Israel’s incoming government in a signed letter to Netanyahu.

The ex-diplomats, including former ambassadors to France, India, and Turkey, expressed “profound concern at the serious damage to Israel’s foreign relations, its international standing and its core interests abroad emanating from what will apparently be the policy of the incoming Government.”