A new coalition in Israel's Knesset
From Our Own Correspondent
BBC
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 5 June 2021
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Benjamin Netanyahu has outsmarted many attempts to drive him from power - but a new alliance is manoeuvring to unseat him. Tom Bateman reports from Jerusalem on the unusual array of parties now teaming up in coalition - ranging from right-wing Jewish nationalists to a religious party for Muslim Israelis of Palestinian heritage.
Sarah Rainsford has reported on several waves of repression in Belarus for the BBC. But her most recent visit to Minsk revealed a pall of fear settling over the country's news media, dissidents and protesters.
The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently visited Costa Rica to talk migration and development aid with the foreign ministers of Central America. What changes in policy is the Biden administration considering - and what does it have to offer the region to deter people from trying to make it to the Mexico/US border? Will Grant was in San Jose to see what was on the table.
Japan is a nation famous for its team spirit, its hospitality, and its love of a big event. But as Rupert Wingfield Hayes comments from Tokyo, there's little public enthusiasm for the Olympic Games - as the opening ceremony in July draws closer, even as new doubts arise over pandemic safety and travel restrictions.
For more than twenty years the late Milan Bandic served as mayor of Croatia's capital, Zagreb - and some citizens say he treated it as a personal fiefdom. He had many colourful run-ins with the law, but there was also a far wider range of accusations that corruption and cronyism were spoiling the city's reputation and driving young Croatians abroad. Guy De Launey explains why nearly two-thirds of voters just chose a young, Green candidate to clean up their surroundings.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts |
| 0:05.6 | Today another cycle of repression in Belarus and there's a different feel to it. |
| 0:11.6 | We hear of the trade-offs being made in San Jose when America's Secretary of State |
| 0:16.6 | discussed migration with some of Central America's politicians. |
| 0:21.4 | In Japan the Olympic spirit seems to be flagging, with the so-called misery games still in doubt, |
| 0:28.6 | and can a new broom clean up a city with a reputation for cronism, the green mayor of |
| 0:33.7 | Zagreb has quite a job on his hands. |
| 0:37.4 | First to Israel, now said to have a new government within days, potentially spelling the end |
| 0:43.0 | for Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year rule, and on wieldy coalition with partners ranging |
| 0:48.8 | from the Jewish nationalist right wing to an Islamic religious Arab party has made a pact |
| 0:54.1 | to govern. |
| 0:55.4 | The agreement between these diverse parties marks a first in Israeli history, even if the |
| 1:00.7 | desire to ditch Mr Netanyahu is one of the only things they really have in common. |
| 1:06.1 | But in Israeli politics these days unity is a rare commodity, says Tom Bateman. |
| 1:12.6 | I'm running down a corridor in Israel's parliament, the Kinesit, a dark shadow moves along |
| 1:17.7 | it of suits and radio earpieces covering a man in the middle. |
| 1:21.8 | I can see his combed grey hair with a blue tinge, its Benjamin Netanyahu heading out |
| 1:27.2 | of the Prime Minister's office. |
| 1:28.8 | There he is, I call out to my cameraman, and we chase after the security detail. |
| 1:33.9 | I slip towards the front and shout out a question. |
| 1:37.2 | Mr Netanyahu, is this your last week as Prime Minister? |
| 1:41.9 | He turns and through a black surgical face mask fires back. |
... |
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