Naftali Bennett
Naftali Bennett is an Israeli politician and the 13th Prime Minister of Israel (2021–2022). Currently leading the 'Beyachad' (Together) party, he is positioning himself as a security-focused alternative to the current government, though he faces a significant decline in recent political polling.
Naftali Bennett served as Israel's Prime Minister from June 2021 to June 2022, heading a diverse coalition known as the 'Change Government.' A former high-tech entrepreneur and commander in elite IDF units Sayeret Matkal and Maglan, Bennett's strategic outlook is defined by the 'Octopus Doctrine,' which advocates for direct pressure on the Iranian regime rather than focusing solely on its regional proxies. Since leaving office, he has remained a prominent critic of the government's security and social policies.
In mid-2026, Bennett intensified his public activity, characterizing the current administration's trajectory as a 'national suicide.' At the July 2026 Herzliya Conference, he sharply challenged Prime Minister Netanyahu's security narrative, calling claims regarding Iranian nuclear progress a 'lie' and accusing the government of 'engineering the story.' This period of heightened friction coincided with reports that Bennett's personal communications were targeted by the Iranian-linked 'Khanzala' cyber group, a unit reportedly led by a senior Iranian intelligence official, Seyed Yehia Hosseini Panjaki, who was killed during Operation Roaring Lion.
Politically, Bennett is navigating a volatile landscape. After rebranding his party as 'Beyachad' (Together) and launching a 'revolutionary' education reform plan, polling data from late August 2026 shows a sharp decline in his standing. Once the leading alternative to Netanyahu, Bennett has been overtaken in multiple surveys by former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot. A Channel 14 poll in late August showed Bennett's party dropping to just 6 seats, a significant collapse from earlier in the summer. On the domestic front, Bennett has adopted a more centrist-leaning stance on Judea and Samaria, suggesting that illegal outposts should be evacuated and Areas A and B should form a Palestinian autonomy—a position that drew sharp condemnation from right-wing figures. Additionally, the Central Elections Committee recently ordered Bennett to remove IDF soldiers' images from a campaign video and pay costs to the Likud party.