I sat down with former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett for two hours – why is he soaring in the polls, building a new party, and blasting Netanyahu?
‘Israel is being grossly mismanaged by very poor leadership,’ he tells me as new elections loom
RA’ANANA, ISRAEL — At only 53, he's the most popular political figure in Israel.
Every single poll over the last 20 months or so indicates that if the elections were to happen soon, his party would win between 27 and 30 seats, his coalition would capture between 65 and 70 seats in the Knesset, and he would emerge as the next prime minister of the Jewish state.
But who is Naftali Bennett?
What is his background?
What are his values?
What are his policies?
And why do so many Israelis see him as their best hope to get a strong, experienced, right-wing leader who was not responsible for the catastrophic failures of the Israeli government on Oct. 7, 2023, and is not on trial on multiple corruption charges?
To find out, I came here to the city of Ra’anana, near Tel Aviv, to Bennett’s home.
For over two hours, we sipped coffee, talked about his history – and his vision for the future – and recorded two exclusive interviews for ALL ISRAEL NEWS and THE ROSENBERG REPORT, my weekly prime time show that airs on TBN, the most-watched Christian television network in the United States.
Part One will air this Thursday evening at 9 p.m. EST on TBN.
But all this week, ALL ISRAEL NEWS will publish key portions of our conversation.
Great to see my friend, former Israeli Prime Minister @NaftaliBennett today, and interview him for THE ROSENBERG REPORT on @TBN and @all_israel_news. Fascinating conversation, especially as polls consistently show he is the most popular political figure in Israel. More soon. pic.twitter.com/Q2sXrLmYIn
— Joel C. Rosenberg (@JoelCRosenberg) June 4, 2025
CONTEXT: BENNETT BREAKS WITH BIBI
Let’s start with some context.
Though once a close ideological ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, and serving in the same elite IDF special forces unit, Sayeret Matkal, as Bibi – and once serving as Netanyahu’s chief of staff – Bennett later broke with Bibi and formed his own political party.
Over the years, Bennett has served in Israel’s government in various capacities, including as Minister of Education, Minister of Religious Services, Minister of the Economy, and eventually as Minister of Defense.
But in 2021, he and his political allies stunned the world by ousting Netanyahu from office.
Bennett, only 49 at the time, was then chosen by his colleagues to replace Bibi, and he went on to serve as one of the nation’s youngest prime ministers.
He also served as the first kippah-wearing, kosher-eating, Bible-believing, Orthodox Jewish prime minister in the history of modern Israel.
True, Netanyahu eventually found a way back into power.
But now, in the volatile and divisive aftermath of the Oct. 7 invasion by Hamas, and the brutal and bitter war that has followed, poll after poll strongly and consistently suggest that Bennett would once again remove Netanyahu from power.
ARE YOU DEFINITELY RUNNING TO REPLACE BIBI?
Thus, my first question as the cameras began to roll was straight to the point.
“Are you running for prime minister? Are you ready to announce? Because you did promise me a year ago that when you were ready, you would announce on this show.”
“It's great to see you, Joel,” Bennett replied. “And I also want to say that I am grateful to you and your audience, to the evangelicals who have been so supportive of Israel.”
“When everyone's bashing us, everyone's attacking us, and we're fighting on seven different fronts against radical Muslim Islamist terrorism, we know that you have our back. And it means the world to us.”
“So, I’ll repeat that when I'm ready, I'll let you know,” he added.
“All right,” I said. “But you're preparing. I mean, clearly, you're taking steps for the possibility of running. You're building a party.”
“Yes, I've registered a party,” Bennett said.
“We need to have the ability to fix Israel,” he insisted.
‘ISRAEL IS BEING GROSSLY MISMANAGED’
“Israel is currently being mismanaged – grossly mismanaged by very poor leadership, in my opinion, and very divisive leadership.”
“That's something that we need to repair. We have to unite Israel from within.”
“If we're divided, we have no chance of beating our enemies,” he added.
IS NETANYAHU’S GOVERNMENT ABOUT TO FALL, FORCING EARLY ELECTIONS?
“Your polling is incredibly high, and it's been consistent,” I noted. “I mean, the latest poll just in the last few days puts your potential party at 28, 29 seats – well ahead of any other party.”
True, I conceded, “We're not in the campaign season yet,” but clearly, “there are a lot of tremors inside the [Netanyahu] government. The ultra-Orthodox parties are talking about maybe bringing this government down.”
A vote to disperse the Knesset is scheduled for as early as this Wednesday.
Both the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and the Shas parties are openly discussing the possibility of breaking with Netanyahu and bringing his government down.
Why?
Because they wholeheartedly reject the government’s effort to enforce the law to draft thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish young men to serve in the IDF.
The two parties are demanding – as they have for decades – that their young men who want to study Torah in yeshivas (Jewish religious studies) be exempted from the military.
But the Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected their claims for the right to be excused from military duty, stating that, by law, all eligible, able-bodied young people must serve.
After 20 months of war, and the IDF facing manpower shortages, the vast majority of Israeli citizens are demanding that the ultra-Orthodox be drafted into service.
Indeed, many are furious with UTJ and Shas for refusing to require their young men to defend the country when everyone else has to.
Many are also furious with Netanyahu for dragging his feet for so long on making the ultra-Orthodox serve, since he needs their leaders to stay in his coalition in order to avoid elections and remain in power.
All this makes it increasingly possible that Israel will head to elections in the next few months.
For the record, Bennett – as a proud religious Jew – is also insistent that the ultra-Orthodox serve in the military.
And he’s sharply critical of Netanyahu giving them a pass.
But I’ll write more on that – and Bennett’s views on the Iran nuclear threat, and the Palestinians, and making peace with the Saudis, and his vision for stronger relations with Evangelical Christians – in the coming days right here on ALL ISRAEL NEWS.
Joel C. Rosenberg is the editor-in-chief of ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS and the President and CEO of Near East Media. A New York Times best-selling author, Middle East analyst, and Evangelical leader, he lives in Jerusalem with his wife and sons.
