Israeli PM visits West Bank settlement amid protest

Jerusalem, May 18 : Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has made his first official visit to a settlement in the occupied West Bank since he took office.

Bennett, also the leader of the pro-settler Yamina Party, on Tuesday participated in a commemoration marking the 45th anniversary of the founding of the settlement of Elkana, Xinhua news agency reported.

During the visit, far-right activists and Israeli settlers launched a protest against the Prime Ministers coalition government which includes some dovish partners and an Islamic party.The protesters demanded Bennett resign, calling him a "traitor" and chanting "Bennett, dont sell Elkana to the Arabs," the Hebrew-language Haaretz newspaper reported on its website.

"As Prime Minister of Israel, I do not want any group in the country to live in fear," Bennett said."The government is for the benefit of everyone.

I will make every effort in the world to hold it together.Nobody has been excluded except for those who exclude themselves."Bennett was sworn in June 2021 as the Prime Minister of a fragile eight-party coalition.He has been under intense criticism by his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, and nationalist activists, who accuse him of abandoning his ideology.int/khz/ #Israeli #Bank #Ali #Salem .