Netanyahu’s hard-line government prepares to enter office

Benjamin Netanyahu arrives during the swearing-in ceremony (Abir Sultan/Pool/AP)

Benjamin Netanyahu was set to return to office on Thursday at the helm of the most religious and ultranationalist government in Israel’s history, vowing to implement policies that could cause domestic and regional turmoil and alienate the country’s closest allies.

Mr Netanyahu’s new government has pledged to prioritise settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, extend massive subsidies to his ultra-Orthodox allies and push for sweeping reform of the judicial system that could endanger the country’s democratic institutions.