‘We will not commit suicide’: Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett tells ALL ISRAEL NEWS he rejects all international pressure to accept a Palestinian state

DENVER, COLORADO — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu is under attack from all sides. 

And his chief rival, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, smells blood in the water. 

Sure, Netanyahu destroyed the Iranian nuclear threat and humiliated the Iranian regime in an unprecedented joint military attack coordinated with President Donald J. Trump and the Pentagon. 

But that was weeks ago.

This week, the New York Times and many world leaders and media outlets are accusing Netanyahu of starving the Palestinians in Gaza.

The International Criminal Court is accusing Bibi of committing genocide in Gaza.

He continues to stand trial on multiple indictments for alleged corruption.

Two ultra-Orthodox political parties have just quit the Netanyahu government, furious with him for not passing a law to exempt their sons from serving in the IDF. 

That brings Netanyahu’s coalition down to just 50 seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

He needs at least 61seats out of the 120 seats in the Knesset to stay in power. 

So, the prospect of Bibi’s government collapsing when the Knesset comes back in session in October seems very real. 

And Bibi’s poll numbers are not good. 

INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE GROWING TO ESTABLISH A PALESTINIAN STATE

If that weren’t enough, the French, Saudis, British, and Canadians – just to name a few – are suddenly and very publicly declaring their support for the immediate establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital, putting Netanyahu and his government on the defensive. 

As momentum builds for new elections in Israel – and global pressure to favor the Palestinian cause rather than Israel continues to mount – Naftali Bennett is gearing up to run with the new political party he is working around the clock to build. 

Polls show that among all party leaders, Bennett has the strongest chance of unseating Netanyahu. 

Again.

BENNETT IS INTRODUCING HIMSELF TO EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS 

It’s not surprising, therefore, that Bennett would want to introduce himself to Evangelical Christians, the largest pro-Israel block in the United States.

Recently, I sat down with Bennett at his home in Ra’anana – a suburb of Tel Aviv – to interview him for ALL ISRAEL NEWS and THE ROSENBERG REPORT, my weekly prime time show on TBN, the most watched Christian TV network in the United States.

In Part One of our conversation, Bennett demanded that Netanyahu not wait any longer but immediately attack Iran’s nuclear sites.

That night, Netanyahu launched Israel’s 12-day War with Iran. 

On this episode Bennett discusses a range of issues.

These include:

• Bennett’s take on the rapidly growing controversy over whether the ultra-Orthodox in Israel should be required to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces

• His vision for a Middle East after the neutralization of the Iran nuclear threat

• and whether he would appoint Israel’s first ambassador to the Christian world if he becomes prime minister again.

We’ll get to each of these in the days ahead.

BENNETT FIERCELY REJECTS GLOBAL PRESSURE TO ACCEPT A PALESTINIAN STATE IN THE AFTERMATH OF OCT 7

In this column, I want to highlight his comments on the rapidly growing international pressure on Israel to stop the war in Gaza and accept the immediate establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state.

 With the opening session of United Nations General Assembly approaching in September, several Western nations – including France, the UK, Malta, Canada, and others – are expected to issue declarations recognizing a Palestinian state.

Four other European countries – Norway, Ireland, Spain and Slovenia – recognized a Palestinian state last year. 

I asked Bennett for his position, especially in the light of statements by senior Saudi officials that they will not normalize with Israel unless the Jewish state accepts a Palestinian one. 

“I’m fed up with this obsession,” Bennett told me. “Especially coming from Europe.”

Europe wants “to impose on Israel another Palestinian state that would terrorize Tel Aviv?” he asked. 

“I'm asking [French President Emmanuel] Macron, or any world liberal leader, are you willing to live ten minutes away from radical Islam?”

“Stop it. Cut it out. That's enough.”

BENNETT: GAZA WAS ALREADY A PALESTINIAN STATE 

“You know, we gave a Palestinian state to the Palestinians in Gaza back in 2005,” Bennett continued.

“We pulled out of all of Gaza. We pulled out our soldiers, pulled out all the citizens by force, expelled all the Jews there. We handed the entire land, the 1949 borders, to the Palestinians – and they turned it into a terror state, and they came to murder us,” he continued. 

“We're not going to make that mistake again.”

“How many times,” he asked, will the Europeans try to force Israel to do something that threatens our very existence? 

Even if “European leaders pressure us,” he said, “we will not commit suicide – not under my leadership.

WHAT ABOUT SAUDI INSISTENCE THAT A PALESTINIAN STATE MUST PRECEDE NORMALIZATION?  

The establishment of a Palestinian state appears to be a key condition – and this a major hurdle – to achieving an historic peace deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. 

Yet, Bennett is convinced that this obstacle could be circumvented. 

“I'm telling you that if we sit together, we could cut a deal of normalization and we could figure out a path forward with the Palestinians,” he told me. 

“It's a very simple formula: Maximum security for Israelis, maximum dignity and freedom for the Palestinians.”

“We don't want to govern them. I don't want to govern them,” he explained. 

The Palestinian issue, according to Bennett, “will not be a block towards peace with the Saudis.”

With Iran weakened by Israeli and American pressure, the once and possibly future prime minister sees this as a historic opportunity to expand the Abraham Accords.

Because he has “a vision of amazing peace and prosperity between us and the moderate Arab states – we could be doing amazing things together,” Bennett said.

Given the symbolic weight of Mecca and Medina in the Muslim world, Bennett noted that Saudi normalization could influence others in the region.

Yet, I pressed him on this, asking whether it might be more difficult for the Saudis now to make a deal with Israel after 18 months of war and so much death and destruction in Gaza.

WHY DOES BENNETT THINK HE IS MORE LIKELY THAN NETANYAHU TO MAKE A DEAL WITH THE SAUDIS?

Haven’t the Saudis backed away from normalization? I asked.

And hasn’t Riyadh hardened their position that they absolutely will not normalize unless Israel accepts a Palestinian state?

“There has been, unfortunately, some regression in the process,” Bennett conceded. 

That said, he feels he would more likely to be able to make a deal with the Saudis, as Netanyahu is so identified with the current war in Gaza – and he is not.

“Together with America, and the leadership of President Trump, I think we could get a normalization and hopefully a peace deal made,” Bennett insisted.

“I'm not sure if it'll happen tomorrow, but I think new leadership in Israel would definitely be a good news for Israel, for the region, for the world.”

Watch Part One and Part Two of Joel Rosenberg’s interview with former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on the TBN website.

THE ROSENBERG REPORT airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. EST and Saturday nights at 10 p.m. EST on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the most-watched Christian television network in the United States.