Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, in an interview with The Times of Israel, called the current moment existential, warning that four more years of the current government would leave Israel without a society. He also denounced Prime Minister Netanyahu's Iran strategy as reliance on 'protracted wars' and slammed the Haredi 'state within a state' as causing 'slow-motion national suicide'.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett sharply escalated his criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in an interview published by The Times of Israel on Wednesday morning (11:07 Jerusalem). Bennett described the moment as existential, saying 'another four years with this government, we won't have a society.' He directly challenged Netanyahu's handling of the Iran front as talks between the US and Iran near an agreement: Bennett denounced the PM's strategy as one of 'protracted wars' rather than decisive resolution, and accused the Haredi establishment of creating an 'anti-Zionist state within a state' that amounts to 'slow-motion national suicide.' The interview comes as The Zioneer has reported a wave of similar criticism from former premiers Ehud Barak and Yair Lapid against the emerging US-Iran deal and the current government's conduct. Barak called the deal 'very bad' in a SAME-THREAD bulletin earlier; Lapid termed it a 'complete failure' for Netanyahu. Bennett's remarks follow his own pattern of warnings: on June 3 he claimed an 'anti-Zionist state' was being funded by taxpayers within Israel, and on June 8 he said Netanyahu is incapable of deciding on the Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran fronts. The criticism is entirely attributed and reflects the speaker's assessment, not independently verified by the desk. No response from the Prime Minister's Office was cited in the source material.
- DevelopingBennett: Anti-Zionist state emerging within Israel, state-funded
- DevelopingBennett at JPPI: 'You can defeat the enemy, the next government will restore security'
- StrongFormer PM Bennett: Israel has a clear strategic plan to topple the Iranian regime
- DevelopingBennett Calls for Strong Israeli Response, Warns Against Symbolic Action
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