Israel's parliament approved Tuesday Binyamin Netanyahu as prime minister and leader of the new right-leaning coalition cabinet.

Speaking before the swearing-in, Netanyahu said these were "not normal times" for Israel, and asked the parliament to trust him "at this time of global crisis, the likes of which we have not had in years". He said he would negotiate with the Palestinians but made no reference to a two-state solution to the conflict.

"Israel finds itself facing two enormous challenges: an economic challenge, and a security challenge. These two crises have come at a time of great international change", Netanyahu added, as cited by the BBC.

The biggest threat to Israel and the world came from "the possibility of a radical regime armed with nuclear weapons", he said. In Netanyahu's words, it was "shameful" that "calls by Iranian leaders to destroy Israel are greeted with indifference by the world, without being firmly condemned".

The new cabinet is the largest in Israel's political history. It combines the center-right, center-left and far-right parties, with hard-liner Avigdor Lieberman confirmed as foreign minister, and Labour leader Ehud Barak as minister of defense.

The cabinet is so big, the government's meeting table had to be extended to accommodate all the members.

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