Context: Constitution Day was celebrated in Belarus on March 15. Belarusian officials entering the state civil service for the first time will now have to confirm their knowledge of the country’s main law in a new format: a qualification exam in the form of a computer test. To pass, they must answer at least 60% of the questions correctly. The Academy of Public Administration under the Aegis of the President of the Republic of Belarus has prepared a manual of over 400 pages to help candidates prepare for the exam. In addition to the Constitution, it covers the fundamentals of personnel policy, ideology, economic regulation, and office administration.
On March 9, 2026, when discussing the Constitution on the CTV program Azaryonok. Napryamuyu, Kirill Kazakov, editor-in-chief of Minsk Kurier, stated that countries that consider themselves democratic cannot serve as models of democracy and therefore have no grounds to demand it from Belarus. He used Israel as an example.
“Who was the prime minister of Israel in 1999? Netanyahu. Who was the prime minister of Israel in 2006? Netanyahu. In 2012, who was the prime minister of Israel? Netanyahu. Who is currently the prime minister of Israel? Netanyahu. What about the alternation of power? What about the idea of alternation that Belarusians have been told about throughout our years of independence as a sovereign state? We’ve been told that we’re supposed to have a certain number of presidents. That Aleksandr Lukashenko should have stepped down long ago,” Kazakov said.
It is true that Benjamin Netanyahu first became prime minister in the 1990s and has held the position three times. However, his terms have not been uninterrupted. He first served as the government’s leader from 1996 to 1999. He returned to the post in 2009 and remained prime minister until 2021. In late 2022, Netanyahu assumed his third term in office.
Five other heads of government have served in Israel since his time as prime minister. From 1999 to 2001, the prime minister was Ehud Barak; from 2001 to 2006, Ariel Sharon; from 2006 to 2009, Ehud Olmert; from 2021 to 2022, Naftali Bennett; and then, in 2022, Yair Lapid.
Ten years passed between Netanyahu’s first and second terms as prime minister. During this time, he worked as a consultant in the high-tech sector and served as minister of defense, finance, and foreign affairs before returning to parliamentary politics.
Netanyahu spent a total of about 18 and a half years as prime minister, a record for Israel. However, his political longevity is not due to a lack of alternation, but rather, his ability to negotiate with different political forces.
Therefore, it is incorrect to compare Israel with Belarus in this case. While the same president has remained in power in Belarus for decades, six different politicians have served as prime minister in Israel during the same period.
