For the first time in 12 years, Israel has a new prime minister after the country’s parliament, the Knesset, narrowly approved a new coalition government led by Naftali Bennett on Sunday, ousting Benjamin Netanyahu.

So who is Naftali Bennett? Here are five things to know about Israel’s new leader.

1. He was a tech entrepreneur.

Bennett, 49, co-founded the tech company Cyota, which focused on combatting online banking and e-commerce fraud. The company was sold to U.S.-based RSA security for $145 million in 2005. Bennett then went on to become the CEO of the Israeli cloud computing service Soluto, which was also sold.

2. He is a former Netanyahu ally.

Bennett then transitioned to politics and from 2006-08 served as chief of staff to Netanyahu, then the leader of the opposition party. After being elected to the Knesset in 2013, Bennett served in a variety of roles in Netanyahu-led governments, including as the minister of economy, minister of religion, minister of diaspora affairs, minister of education and minister of defense.

Bennett has been called a traitor by Netanyahu supporters after he brokered the coalition with centrist Yair Lapid that led to Netanyahu’s ouster. The coalition includes parties from the right, left and center. Under the deal, Bennett will serve as prime minister for two years and then Lapid will take over for two years. 

Bennett has defended his decision as a pragmatic move aimed at unifying the country and avoiding a fifth round of elections.

3. He considers himself more conservative than Netanyahu.

Despite opposing Netanyahu, Bennett is, too, a staunch conservative. The head of the ultranationalist Yamina party, Bennett has even claimed the incoming government, despite partnering with centrists and leftists, will be “10 degrees to the right” of Netanyahu’s.

Bennett has made a number of inflammatory comments and taken extreme positions on the Palestianian conflict, views much of the international community see as a major obstacle to peace. He has vowed to do “everything” in his power to block Palestianian statehood and said Israel should unilaterally annex 60% of the West Bank. In 2018, the military veteran said Israel Defense Forces “should shoot to kill” any Palestinians who crossed into Israel from Gaza. 

But Bennett will be severely constrained by his unwieldy coalition, which has only a narrow majority in parliament. He and Lapid have agreed not to pursue contentious policies that could fracture their alliance, instead focusing mostly on domestic priorities.

4. He has strong American ties.

Bennett is the son of American-born parents who emigrated to Israel. He, however, spent part of his childhood living in New Jersey and later returned to the U.S., living in New York when he worked for Cyota. Like his predecessor, who also spent some of his formative years in the U.S., Bennett is a strong English speaker.

5. He'll make history as a Modern Orthodox Jew.

Bennett is a Modern Orthodox Jew and will be Israel’s first prime minister who regularly wears a kippah, the skullcap worn by observant Jews. But ultra-Orthodox protesters are furious with Bennett for forming an alliance with secular left-wing parties as well as the Arab party Ra’am and have called for him to remove his kippah. 

Anshel Pfeffer, a columnist for Israel’s left-leaning Haaretz newspaper, wrote in a recent profile of Bennett that he was a “Jewish nationalist but not really dogmatic. A bit religious, but certainly not devout.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.