Naftali Bennett is Netanyahu's former protege, now successor

Naftali Bennett rose in Israeli politics as a protege of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

TEL AVIV, Israel -- For months, Naftali Bennett vexed Israel's political establishment by refusing to say whether he and his Yamina party would get behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Now the 49-year-old tech millionaire and former Netanyahu protege is poised to become his successor. His rise to Israel's top job is a historic turn for the 73-year-old nation after four inconclusive elections and a brutal 11-day war with Hamas' militant rulers in the Gaza Strip. As a fragile truce held into its second week, Bennett finally announced his party would join with allies of centrist Yair Lapid to form a government. They completed the deal late Wednesday, just a half hour before a midnight deadline, paving the way to formally oust Netanyahu in the coming days. The “change” coalition reflects a pragmatic streak in the 49-year-old father of four who built his career on becoming the pro-settlement, anti-Palestinian statehood leader of the new Israeli right. It also reflects Israel's mercurial politics.