Naftali Bennett
@naftalibennett · Middle East
Naftali Bennett is followed by Storyz World for government and public service coverage connected to Israel in the Middle East chapter.
The 7.10 massacre could have been prevented. How did Netanyahu do nothing?
Translated from HebrewThe report published this morning that Netanyahu was warned ten days before the October 7 massacre about Sinwar’s intentions is true. Netanyahu bears personal and direct responsibility for the failure that led to the deaths of thousands of Israelis on his watch. His ignoring the warnings is criminal negligence, and that is why he is doing everything to prevent the establishment of a state commission of inquiry that would expose the truth. What did he not do in response? He did not go down to the field, he did not warn the heads of the security establishment, he did not prepare Israel for the attack, and he did not convene the cabinet. What did he do in those days? He propped up Hamas to stop the protests at the fence, transferred more funds to buy a little quiet, promised more workers as a result of Hamas threats, and, as usual, dismissed all the warnings from the heads of the security establishment. Netanyahu was so captive to his own conception that even clear warnings from regional leaders did not move him from his seat. What was on his mind in those days was continuing the division of Israeli society, continuing the policy of containment and buying temporary quiet while surrendering to terror. We could have saved the lives of the residents of the Gaza border communities, the lives of our children who were slaughtered at the Nova festival, and the lives of our heroic soldiers—all of them. Netanyahu cannot continue to serve in his position for another minute, and he certainly is not capable of fixing it. If we do not replace this government, we will never know the truth that will be revealed only by a state commission of inquiry, because they are preventing its establishment for fear that the terrible truth will be exposed. In 50 days all this will change. There will be a government here that unites the people; there will be a government here that goes out into the field and is not captive to a terrible conception. Together we will fix this too.
Translated from HebrewAmit Segal and others are asking a legitimate question about Yonatan Shalev’s age. I will answer: First, Yonatan Shalev is not 21 (on election day he will be 24), and despite his young age he has already managed to establish Israel’s largest organization of young people who serve, and to block the draft-dodging law in the Knesset together with his friends. Second, one of the current government’s biggest problems is that they do not count the young people serving in Israel. Combat soldiers and reservists are of absolutely no interest to them. They simply do not care that these young people who are trying to build their lives cannot do so, because every few months they are called up for 80 days of reserve duty. This is unbearable. Especially when there are 100,000 young, healthy Haredim of conscription age. If only 15% of them were drafted, the whole problem would be solved. This is what the elections are about. That’s what happens when the cabinet includes Deri and Smotrich, the architects of draft evasion, and Ben-Gvir, who has not done a single day of IDF service. Yonatan will serve as a voice for this exceptional generation, and will not let up until there is change. Third, most of the major movements in history were driven by young people. The leaders of the Second Aliyah were in their early twenties when they came to the Land of Israel and made the wilderness bloom. Yonatan Shalev is indeed a staff sergeant in the Maglan unit. Although he is not an officer, he commanded a series of operations in Lebanon and Gaza in recent years, putting his life at risk. A few months ago, he was nearly killed in Lebanon. Yonatan was raised on the legacy of his grandfather, an Israeli hero, Lieutenant Colonel Shaul Shalev, of blessed memory, who was a tank battalion commander and fell in a heroic battle in the Yom Kippur War. I am proud of him and of the excellent team of women CEOs, fighters, and doers in general that we are bringing. Together we will fix Israel!
Translated from HebrewI have been in politics for 15 years, and I am telling you with certainty: this is the most talented, capable, and dedicated list to run for the Knesset in the last generation. I am very excited to share with you Israel’s team for repair. Look at them one by one, at their résumés, and you will see the men and women best suited to repair our beloved country now. The best female CEOs in Israel. People who rose from the field, with results and achievements. Senior managers from the business sector, together with new and young forces (yes, Yonatan, I called you young...) fighters, heroes of October 7 who saved the country once, and now are coming together with us to save it again. With them we will recruit Haredim, reduce crime, restore security to Israel’s streets, lower the cost of living, build excellent public transportation, rehabilitate the ruined education system, and raise Israel’s standing in the world. And I will let you in on something: along the way, we were offered a host of “stars,” big and glittering names. But we understood from the very first moment: Israel is not being managed, and in order to manage Israel again, we do not need stars, we need the best and most experienced men and women of management and action in the country. This is our team. Soon it will be good here. With God’s help, together we will repair.
Translated from HebrewI want to say something to you this evening about Yair Lapid. Yair is a friend, brave, a person with heart, a fighter, a great Zionist, and a man of dignity. In the dark years of late, he never stopped fighting. He was not tempted by self-pity; he built and held together a magnificent team of parliamentarians who fought in the Knesset as no other faction did. Despite their numerical disadvantage, they managed to block further disasters that the October 7 government tried to advance. He managed the extremely difficult process of generational change with sensitivity and wisdom, as only he knows how. The noble retirement announcements, unmatched in Israeli politics, are the greatest evidence of the spirit of the team he built. His people who have finished, as well as those who continue with us, are an enormous asset to the people of Israel. Yair's views and mine are not identical, and that's a good thing. I admire this man greatly, and this evening especially I am proud to call him a friend.
Translated from HebrewWhile Netanyahu is spreading blood libels against IDF commanders, Deri is harming IDF soldiers. Aryeh Deri cannot sit in another government in Israel. The IDF is crying out for soldiers, and Deri is lying and making up excuses. This will not happen with us. He will not sit in the cabinet and will not make decisions about our sons who are fighting beyond the enemy lines. Anyone who does not participate in defending the country will not decide its security affairs. The next government will be a Zionist government built on the basis of an alliance of those who serve. That is the only way we will be able to enlist everyone. Together we will fix it.
Translated from HebrewOn the morning of 7/10, Yair Golan got into his vehicle with a weapon and drove into the inferno; he risked his life in order to save lives. Other good people from across the country did the same, saving the State of Israel from a disaster ten times greater. The people of Israel owe all these heroes a debt of gratitude for generations. Netanyahu, his wife and those around him are spreading a sick, false and dangerous conspiracy against the commanders of the IDF and Shin Bet and against Yair Golan. The truth is simpler: For many long years, Netanyahu fed the Hamas monster with billions of dollars and contained the rockets, balloons and terror in order to buy quiet. Time and again he surrendered to Hamas's threats and collapsed Israel's deterrence. The height of it was his disgraceful folding on Jerusalem Day 2021 in the face of Hamas's threats, and the cancellation of the Flag March. Minutes after his surrender, Hamas began firing rockets at Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. Sinwar resolved in his heart to unleash the Al-Aqsa Flood. The monster grew to enormous dimensions and attacked us on the morning of 7/10. Netanyahu failed because of the conception that Hamas was an asset and Qatar was a partner. Netanyahu's attempt to rewrite history will not succeed. The state commission of inquiry that we will establish will investigate everything and expose the truth. Netanyahu bears direct responsibility for 13 years of building the terror monsters Hamas and Hezbollah and for the 7/10 massacre.
Translated from HebrewChildren of Israel, parents of Israel, a new school year begins this morning. I too am sending two children to school this morning, and there is a great deal of excitement in our home as well. I want to tell you something personal. In fourth grade, I returned to Israel after several years in the United States, with a poor command of Hebrew. I did not do very well in my studies. I received grades of “Sufficient,” “Barely Good,” and “Almost Good.” Then, one day, a drama teacher said “Well done” to me about something I had done. Just two words, but they gave me confidence that also spread to other areas. Since then, I have known that sometimes all a child needs is one adult who believes in them and will not give up on them. This is also the great mission of our education system: not to give up on any child. We must not decide in advance what a child’s future will be based on the town where they were born, the sector they belong to, or the school they attend. As education minister, I inherited ten years of decline in mathematics and science, especially in the periphery. I was told that excellence could not be brought to the periphery. Within four years, we doubled the number of students eligible for five-unit mathematics, including in the periphery. Just as we did then with five-unit mathematics, so will we do throughout the education system. In the next government, as an immediate and urgent step, we will declare a national emergency in the education system and recruit thousands of new teachers into it. We will not accept a situation in which Israel is short of more than 30,000 teachers. But we will not settle for putting out fires. We will rebuild the education system so that it sees every child. We will transfer resources and managerial authority from the Education Ministry and bureaucracy to principals, teachers, and students. We will revolutionize state education and establish a shared Israeli foundation of mathematics, English, and Zionism for all Israel’s children. Alongside an excellent education system, children need one other basic thing: peace and stability. In recent years, our children have gone through wars, sirens, and school years interrupted again and again. Some of this upheaval was forced upon us by our enemies. When an enemy attacks us, we must fight it and defeat it. But not all the chaos was inevitable. Some of it was also the result of a lack of planning and failed management. We discovered how much strength Israeli families possess. But the resilience of citizens cannot substitute for a functioning state. In the next government, we will restore management and professionalism to the education system. I do not promise that there will be no more challenges. I do commit that when there is a crisis, there will be a state to manage it. We will not leave you to deal with it alone. Our children deserve normal years. Years in which they can be free to develop curiosity, dare, and dream. Israeli students, girls and boys, I love you and believe in you. May you all have a good, safe, and stable school year. Together we will fix education, and together we will fix Israel. It will be good here. With great love, Naftali Bennett
Translated from HebrewThe people of Israel lost today one of the greatest female scientists it has ever known, Prof. Ada Yonath, Israel Prize laureate in Chemistry. A pioneering woman who brought Israel to the forefront of world science. The best way to remember Ada Yonath, of blessed memory, is not only to look back, but to look forward. Invest in education, encourage curiosity and ambition. Give our girls and boys the tools and support to dream big and fulfill themselves in every field. May her memory be a blessing.
Translated from Hebrew (Israel)I will never forget that night two years ago when we heard the unimaginable news about Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Ori Danino, may their memories be a blessing. We all believed that their end would be different. For months we got to know them, waited for them, and prayed for them. We connected with them and their heroic families as if they were part of our own family. An entire country saw this disaster approaching and felt a terrible helplessness. Later, we also learned about their courage. We heard about Carmel, who taught yoga; Ori, who helped Hersh with his injury; and Hersh, who strengthened others in captivity. We saw them light Hanukkah candles together, joke around, and embrace. Even in the depths of hell, they looked after one another and loved one another. Six heroes of the spirit, who were brutally murdered by the most despicable enemy. We cannot bring them back. But we can and must be worthy of them. We will remember them, learn from them, and build a better country here, one more worthy of their sacrifice. The State of Israel was founded so that Jews would never again be helpless in the face of those who want to murder us. In this basic mission, the state failed on that day. We will do everything so that this never happens again. We will do everything to add light where they tried to extinguish it. Together we will make things right.
Translated from HebrewOn my way to Eilat, I met a father of three who is doing his eighth reserve-duty rotation in the middle of the summer vacation. We must ease the burden on them. Hang in there, dear Matan, reinforcements are on the way.
Translated from HebrewTomorrow, when we are all excited on the first day of first grade for our children, one out of every three Israeli children will enter a Haredi institution where they are not taught mathematics, English, or basic tools for life. And more than that, what they are taught there is that Zionism is a bad thing, that earning a living is for second-class people, and that it is better to die than to serve in the IDF. Therefore, whoever talks about enlistment must first talk about education. Because if we do not uproot “We will die rather than enlist” at age 6, we will not be able to enlist people at age 18. In the next government there will be a simple rule: If you are not a Zionist, you will not be funded at my expense. An institution that does not teach the core curriculum, an institution that educates against the state and against the IDF, will not receive a single shekel from the state. To save the Zionist state, we will dismantle the Haredi state. This is the most important move for ensuring the state’s existence, because if we raise a new generation here that does not take part in the Israeli story, in security, and in work, we simply will not be able to guarantee the future of the Jewish people in its land. Everyone talks about enlistment, but they do not know how to make it happen. We have a practical plan. We know exactly what needs to be done, and exactly how to do it. * I want to emphasize: I love our Haredi brothers. Anyone here who had been born and educated for 18 years against the State of Israel, against work, and against serving in the army would believe what he believes. This is not the fault of the Haredi public. It is the fault of the Haredi activists, and especially the fault of the politicians who allow the activists to imprison them. We will dismantle the system the activists created and, in its place, build a real alternative: excellent state Haredi education. It preserves the Haredi way of life, teaches Torah, and also the core curriculum and Zionism. Anyone who thinks this is a new invention, I suggest they read the Bible again. Abraham went out to fight, Joshua was a warrior, Deborah and Barak fought, King David was a warrior, and the Hasmoneans fought for Jewish independence. The heroes of Judaism did not ask others to defend them. And Maimonides, who was a physician, warned sharply against a life in which a person studies Torah and makes a living from charity. Our message to our Haredi brothers is simple: We are not against you. We want you with us. In the army, in the economy, in high-tech, in medicine, in academia, and in building the future of the State of Israel. * Friends, what was will not be. There will be no more autonomous states within the State of Israel. There will be Haredim and secular people here, religious and traditional people, living together and defending our shared home together. There will be one people here with one education system and one army. Together we will repair Israel.
Translated from Hebrew“Forget it, we know you won’t really be able to enlist all the Haredim. It’s just populism.” This is an argument I hear from you a lot in parliament and out in the field. So let me explain: I agree that we will not succeed in enlisting all the Haredim immediately, or even most of them. But from the very first moment we will apply the principle: anyone who does not enlist gets not a single shekel from the state. Anyone who does not work gets not a single shekel from the state. Not a Zionist—not at my expense. The tens of billions of shekels we save on yeshiva-student allowances, municipal-tax discounts, daycare subsidies, and the “Price for Every Resident” program will be transferred in full *only* to the serving and working public. This will happen immediately. From day one. The result will be that quite quickly, many Haredim will decide of their own accord to enlist, because of market forces, economic forces. My estimate is that out of 100,000 people liable for conscription, within a year we will manage to bring in about a fifth of them, 15,000–20,000. And that is exactly what the IDF is lacking today. That number will send tens of thousands of reservists home. Because one regular soldier = 12 reservists. This is the plan. No exemptions. No negotiations and no “dialogue” with Deri and Gafni. But there is also no need for arrests and tanks in Bnei Brak. We simply stop the money for anyone who does not serve the state, regardless of whether he is a Haredi draft dodger, secular, Jewish, or Arab. I grew up in the business sector. I understand economics and incentives. This is the only method that has not yet been tried, and it is the only method that will work.
Translated from HebrewNetanyahu’s weekly condemnation of the riots in Qusra shows how powerless he is in the face of Ben-Gvir. The riots in Qusra do not represent the settlement movement and harm it. They endanger IDF soldiers, destroy the remnants of Israel’s good name, and contradict every Jewish value. Soon we will put an end to the chaos and restore law and order everywhere in the State of Israel. Together we will fix it.
Translated from HebrewI just told Yossi Yehoshua what the outgoing Israeli government is afraid to do: Anyone who launches terror balloons and kites at Israel should be eliminated.
Translated from HebrewPay attention to this infuriating revelation: while I was fighting in the cabinet to eliminate Hamas's tunnels, Netanyahu was fighting behind all our backs to grovel before the leaders of the terrorist organization. At the time, it was not clear to me why Netanyahu opposed my demand to bring down Hamas (as his book attests) — now all of Israel understands why. This is exactly what a misconception looks like: you believe Hamas is an asset, compromise your security interest, and then you get terrorists in the kibbutzim, raping, burning and massacring civilians whose security you are responsible for. Netanyahu, who is trapped in the mistaken conception, is no longer capable of looking after our security, and certainly is not capable of defeating the enemy. Soon we will replace him, and put things right.
Translated from HebrewGood morning, a snapshot from the city of Eilat. From many conversations with city residents, I am learning that these are the main needs: 1. Healthcare. At this moment, the city's health services are very weak. There is a constant shortage of specialist doctors in key fields, and life-saving departments such as a permanent catheterization unit are missing. Basic things that exist in the central region. What will a heart patient who needs an urgent catheterization do? 2. Flights to the center. Flights are routinely delayed, sometimes by as much as 4 hours. For example, a melanoma patient who had scheduled an appointment at a hospital in the central region was late and lost the appointment that had been scheduled for him. This happens all the time. Flights must arrive and depart on time. There is a way to fix this. 3. Employment. At present, apart from tourism, there is very little employment here. We must create additional strong anchors that will enable all Eilat residents to earn a respectable living. 4. Eilat residents are a special breed. I met dozens of residents who love their city very much, are proud of it, and genuinely want to improve Israel together. Thank you for the wholehearted hospitality.
Translated from HebrewThe chaos government is harming Israel's security and Israel's standing in the world in order to scrounge up views on TikTok - terrorism is fought through deeds, not pathetic provocations. It was not enough for Smotrich and Sukkot to be the architects of the draft-dodging law and abandon IDF soldiers to carry the burden alone; now they are also undermining their missions and endangering their lives for campaign videos. Netanyahu knows that they are bringing Israel to an unprecedented low, but he cannot do anything because he has no government without Ben-Gvir and the anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox parties. It will take years to repair the damage they have caused, but we will fix everything they destroyed -
Translated from HebrewI want to tell you about Nisan Zeevi, a resident of the border area, who in the hardest times the north has known worked for everyone and fought for home. Every time I came to the area, he was there, putting out fires, finding solutions, bringing residents home without waiting for the government, and teaching me about the needs and strengths of the region he loves so much. How proud I was to return once again to the northern border, this time with Nisan by my side as a candidate on the „ביחד“ list. Today we presented the residents with the Frontline Communities Law. Not just another work plan that remains on paper, but a fundamental and comprehensive law with implementation mechanisms like those created in the south. A law that will turn the northern frontline into a place where communities thrive and young families flock, will bind all government ministries, and is ready for immediate implementation as soon as we replace the outgoing government. The people of the frontline deserve a government that sees them. Together we will fix it @nisanzeevi
Translated from HebrewMenachem Begin said that the decision not to fire back during the Altalena affair was the act he was most proud of in his life. Today they announced that the ship had been found. ** When the state was only a few weeks old, at its most sensitive moment, Menachem Begin faced the test of his life. The Jewish state was then on the brink. War from outside, an army that had only just been established, and in the midst of it all, Jews were shooting at Jews. Altalena. They told Begin: You must fire back. Show that you are strong. Your people expect you to respond. And he refused. He understood that there are moments when leadership is not about inflaming the base, nor about defeating the political opponent. Leadership is putting the state before yourself. He paid a heavy personal price for it. They mocked him, despised him, and humiliated him. Afterward, he spent nearly thirty years in the opposition. But he prevented a civil war and saved our young state. Until the day he died, Begin said that the decision not to fire back was the act he was most proud of in his life. We will not forget Begin, his courage, and his message, written in blood: Just no civil war. Only together will we fix Israel.
Translated from HebrewToday at TheMarker’s Education Conference, I spoke about one of the issues closest to my heart – the education of Israel’s children. I’m sharing with you what I said >> Among all the positions I held in public service, I had the tremendous privilege of serving as education minister of the State of Israel. When I entered that position, I fell in love with the people in education. I saw teachers giving their all for their students, never giving up on a single soul, and I fell in love with this sacred work of educating the souls of Israel’s children. Over the past three years, my appreciation for our educators has grown even more. In the midst of the longest and hardest war in our history, they literally saved our children. As education minister and a father of four, I want to say to our educators: thank you! But we also have a lot to fix together. The government that abandoned security also abandoned Israel’s children. If I were prime minister, I would declare a national emergency in the education system and address the shortage of more than 30,000 teachers. Because although we have excellent teachers and outstanding principals, something deep in the system has broken down. The education system has become very cumbersome and very centralized. Officials in Jerusalem dictate from above to principals and teachers what to do. Layers of bureaucracy, a maze of offices and districts, endless director-general circulars, unnecessary inspections, outdated procedures. The sad result: although Israel spends a fortune on education, the money gets stuck in the machinery and does not reach the children and teachers. Today, 70% of the daily decisions about our children’s lives are made at the Education Ministry – which does not know our children and is not connected to your real needs. And so, we struggle to retain our excellent educators, the status of the teaching profession has eroded, and we are facing a severe personnel crisis. I will share with you a formative story I will never forget. My first official visit as education minister was to a particular school in the north. I was received there with an exaggerated royal welcome. The students stood in rows and waved to me. The teachers and principals showed me exhibitions, decorated walls, and lists of achievements. Two ceremonial hours in which all the teachers were happy, all the students loved learning, all the birds were chirping, and everything was honey. I will never forget that during the ceremony, one student stood up and said these words: “It is important to me to note that the pedagogy here is wonderful.” Then, just before I left, that same student from the ceremony approached me to the side and placed a sealed envelope in my hand. On the drive back, I opened the letter and read: “Don’t believe a single word. It’s all a show for you. Really, really, everything here is terrible.” At that moment I decided – from now on, I would make only surprise visits. I also understood the depth of the gap between the truth on the ground and the disconnected system up there, busy with showmanship rather than substance. In the next government, we will fix this from the root. We will transfer power from the bureaucracy of the Education Ministry in Jerusalem to the field – to principals and teachers. The Education Ministry will become a regulator rather than an operator. Management decisions will be made by those who are close to the children and parents and know what they really need – teachers, school principals, and local authorities. We will give principals and teachers more freedom, more resources, and more responsibility. We are not starting from zero. As education minister, we launched the “Educational Picture” index, so that schools would be measured not only by matriculation scores, but also by values, school persistence rates, and social involvement. Once there are clear and good metrics, it is possible to free principals and teachers to do the work that really matters. Just as we expect children to trust their teachers, we, the government, need to trust them. And just as we expect our children to be independent, we need to give education teams more independence. *** We have another series of programs ready to be implemented in the next government, which will rebuild the education system here. In the next government, we will establish one state education system for all of Israel’s children. All of Israel’s children will learn a common foundation of Hebrew, English, mathematics, civics, Bible, and Zionism. We will correct a historic mistake: creating different education systems that produce different countries. Whoever does not learn the common Israeli foundation will not receive a single shekel from the state. Not Zionist – not at my expense! There will be one education here, for one people! Every student will have a personal AI teacher. Artificial intelligence will never replace teachers, but it will be able to free them to do what no machine can do: educate! Instill values and care for the emotional and social world of our children. We will also put an end to the Wild West in early childhood. In Israel, the most important years are precisely the most neglected. We will put an end to that. We will bring birth-to-three settings under supervision and guarantee high-quality, professional education. In the next government, there will be the greatest education revolution since the establishment of the state, a revolution on a Ben-Gurion scale. Our teachers will receive the status they deserve and the freedom to truly educate. Our children will receive excellent public education. In Dimona, Jerusalem, Umm al-Fahm, Kiryat Shmona, everywhere. Together we will fix education, and together we will fix Israel.
Translated from Hebrew