Naftali Bennett, Israel’s former Prime Minister, stated in a televised interview that current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must leave office.
Bennett refrained from saying whether he plans to challenge the longest-serving leader in the country in an upcoming election.
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 that aired on Saturday, Bennett commented, “Netanyahu has been in power for 20 years… that’s too much; it’s not healthy.”
He called attention to Netanyahu’s “heavy responsibility for the divisions in Israeli society,” highlighting the growing rifts that have emerged under Netanyahu’s leadership, especially regarding his handling of the Gaza war since October 2023.
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Bennett, a right-wing leader who joined forces with Netanyahu’s critics to form a coalition that ousted him from office after 12 consecutive years, insisted that “Netanyahu must go.”
However, the fragile coalition government Bennett led, along with current opposition leader Yair Lapid, collapsed after about a year. This led to snap elections, resulting in Netanyahu regaining the premiership with support from far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.
Although Bennett has taken time away from politics, there are rumors of a potential comeback, with public opinion polls indicating he may have enough support to defeat Netanyahu again. Currently, no elections are scheduled before late 2026, but early elections are common in Israel.
In his Saturday interview, Bennett claimed credit for laying the groundwork for Israel’s bombardment campaign earlier this month against Iranian nuclear and military sites.
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The decision to launch attacks against the Islamic Republic “was very good” and “needed,” said Bennett, claiming that the offensive would not have been possible without the work of his short-lived government.
In Gaza, where Israel has waged war since Hamas’s October 2023 attack, Bennett said the military has displayed “exceptional” performance, but “the political management of the country” was “a catastrophe, a disaster”.
Criticising the Netanyahu government’s “inability to decide,” the former prime minister called for an immediate “comprehensive” agreement that would see all remaining hostages freed from Gaza.
“Leave the task of eliminating Hamas to a future government,” said Bennett, who also evaded several questions about whether he intends to run for office.
AFP