Former PM Naftali Bennett pitches economic reforms, security, education overhaul ahead of Israeli elections

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett unveiled his vision for Israel's future at an English-speaking Jewish International Connection Israel (JIC) event in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Ahead of national elections that must be held no later than October, Bennett addressed what he described as Israel's biggest challenges, including the cost of living, education, crime, housing prices, national security and the country's international standing.

"We're going to address some of the biggest problems we're facing: cost of living, education, crime, crazy housing costs, our international standing, and security above all," Bennett announced.

He argued that Israel's high cost of living is primarily the result of insufficient market competition.

"Prices are high for one main reason: we don't have real competition. We'll break up monopolies, cut regulation, and open the market to imports," he said.

Bennett spent part of his life in the United States and in his address, he called for the establishment of an Israeli constitution "in the spirit of the [US] Declaration of Independence."

Bennett, who recently launched the new political party Together (Beyachad) with Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid, has emerged as one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main challengers ahead of the upcoming elections. He has increasingly criticized Netanyahu's handling of the war against the Iranian regime and its regional terrorist proxies.

Bennett vowed that one of his first priorities would be to protect southern Israeli border communities.

"After such a colossal failure, the bereaved families and all of the State of Israel deserve answers to ensure this will never happen again," he said, a position that has broad public support in Israel.

In an exclusive interview with ALL ISRAEL NEWS Editor-in-Chief Joel Rosenberg in April, Bennett outlined what he described as his vision for an "Israeli renaissance."

“I am running – my intent is to win, unite Israel, create growth and an Israeli renaissance,” Bennett said at the time. He also criticized Netanyahu for permitting the transfer of Qatari cash to the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza.

Bennett is a conservative religious Zionist and served in the IDF’s elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit. He said he intends to reverse the current Israeli legislation that he believes enables continued military draft evasion among ultra-Orthodox Jews.

"We'll cut benefits to draft evaders and direct them to those who serve. Incentives work. We'll start seeing our haredi brothers with us in the IDF," he said.

Bennett, who had a successful career in the tech industry, revealed that a future government led by him would prioritize maintaining Israel's prominent position in the global artificial intelligence race.

"In the past, countries invested in weapons, energy, and defense. The next global race is AI. We need to be at the forefront of this revolution," he explained.

The tech industry is a key driver of the Israeli economy but relies on an expanding educated workforce, which is challenged by Israel’s fragmented education system. Bennett called for education reform requiring all students to spend 60% of their studies on a core curriculum including mathematics, Hebrew, English, Zionist heritage and Torah studies.

"Every child in Israel will have an opportunity to succeed in the 21st century, whether they grow up in Dimona, Jerusalem, Umm al-Amad, or Kiryat Shmona," Bennett said, referring to underprivileged Jewish and Arab communities in Israel. Bennett’s education plan will reportedly allow schools to determine how they intend to use the remaining 40% of the studies.

"They can teach Talmud, music, cyber, entrepreneurship, whatever they choose," he said.

The former Israeli leader also highlighted the achievements of the government that he and then-Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who now leads the Yesh Atid party, led between 2021 and 2022.

"We took the country from a huge deficit to a surplus, lowered prices through competition, decreased crime by 30%, increased the number of students taking five-unit Bagrut exams, and a bunch of other achievements that everyone said were impossible," he said.

"On the first day of government, we won't waste time. We're going to hit the ground running," Bennett concluded.