‘Now is the time’ to deliver ‘knockout’ blow against Iran nuclear threat, fmr PM Naftali Bennett tells ALL ISRAEL NEWS
‘Window of opportunity closing’ but Bibi hesitating, Bennett says
RA’ANANA, ISRAEL — During a two-hour conversation at his home here in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett sharply criticized current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for hesitating to take bold and urgent action to neutralize the Iran nuclear threat once and for all.
Bennett, 53 – leading in every poll since October 7, 2023, and laying the groundwork for a national comeback – including registering and actively building a new political party – told me that Iran and its terror proxies have never been weaker.
Now is not the time for an Israeli leader to be weak and pull his punches, he insisted.
Rather, it’s time to deliver a “knockout” blow against the “epicenter” of evil in the region.
And if Netanyahu isn’t willing to be strong and decisive, Bennett implies, then it’s time for new leadership.
We recorded two exclusive interviews for ALL ISRAEL NEWS and for THE ROSENBERG REPORT.
Part One will air this Thursday evening at 9 p.m. EST on TBN.
Earlier this week, I discussed Bennett’s preparations to challenge and replace Netanyahu, his one-time mentor.
Today, let’s look more specifically at Bennett’s approach to Iran.
“You have been very tough on the idea [that] it's time to hit Iran,” I said as we began our first interview.
I reminded him that at the end of September 2024, when he was the keynote speaker at our Epicenter Briefing – our annual gathering of Evangelical leaders hosted by ALL ISRAEL NEWS and The Joshua Fund – that he could not have been clearer about the urgency of confronting Iran.
Bennett told us then that it was high time for Israel to destroy the Iranian nuclear threat and bring down the wicked, dangerous, and corrupt Iranian regime.
Several days after the Epicenter Briefing, Iran fired 180 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and armed drones at Israel.
Immediately after the attack, Bennett wrote on his social media platforms: “Israel has now its greatest opportunity in 50 years, to change the face of the Middle East. The leadership of Iran, which used to be good at chess, made a terrible mistake this evening.”
“We must act now to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, its central energy facilities, and to fatally cripple this terrorist regime,” Bennett insisted.
Nine months later, however, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu has not chosen to deliver a devastating strike on Iran.
Six months into the new American administration, President Donald J. Trump seems more determined to negotiate a deal with Iran than to order massive U.S. airstrikes.
So, I asked Bennett, “How are you feeling about President Trump telling Prime Minister Netanyahu, ‘Don't attack Iran’? Did we miss a window?”
“Well, the window of opportunity is closing, and we have to act,” Bennett replied.
“We should have acted way long ago,” he added. “But now is the time to act.”
“The epicenter of Islamic radical terror is Tehran,” he told me.
“The Islamic Republic of Tehran. And it's been this octopus, sending its arms all across the world, all across the Middle East, and creating these proxies that hit and kill Israelis and kill Americans and just kill anyone who doesn't want to become [a] Muslim.”
“What Israel did over the past year was take out its air defense systems and two of its main proxies – Hezbollah and Hamas – which are dramatically diminished.”
‘NOW IS THE TIME FOR THE KNOCKOUT’
“So, if you will, it's like being in a boxing match and your opponent right now, his hands are tied. Finally, now is the time for the knockout – this should have been done [already].”
I noted that after the November elections in the States, while President Joe Biden was a particularly “lame duck” and President-elect Donald Trump was not yet in office, there was a period of several months in which Netanyahu could have ordered a massive Israeli attack to neutralize the Iran threat.
Bennett sharply criticized Netanyahu’s unwillingness to use that window to act decisively, even though Biden was pressuring Bibi not to take major action.
“I know, but at the end of the day, if you're an Israeli prime minister, your utmost – and I would say, you know, the key consideration – is the security and existence of the State of Israel,” Bennett replied.
‘A BIG OPPORTUNITY MISSED’
“We very much respect former President Biden,” he was quick to note.
“But at the end of the day, we need to defend our people.”
“It's us who are living here. It's us who are fighting all these crazy Islamist terrorists, not Biden.”
Bennett argued, “That was a really big opportunity that was missed.”
“But, still, we need to act.”
The full interview will air on THE ROSENBERG REPORT at 9 p.m. EST on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) –the most-watched Christian television network in the United States.
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.
