Bennett calls U.S.-Iran understandings a historic failure, Netanyahu to respond

Former prime minister and Yesh Atid? No, Together party leader Naftali Bennett attacked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday evening after the understandings reached between Washington and Tehran. Bennett said Netanyahu’s government was ending in “a historic failure” on Iran, speaking shortly before Netanyahu’s first public statement on the deal and his expected answers to reporters.

Bennett opened by praising what he called the bravery and ingenuity of IDF soldiers and security forces over the past 1,000 days, but said the political leadership had failed. He said Netanyahu’s term began with a civil rift, continued through the October 7 massacre, and was now ending with failure against Iran.

He laid out a different approach to diplomacy and war, saying Israel should use its ties with the U.S. president “only for the interest of the State of Israel,” and should return to “fast, strong and decisive wars” instead of what he called Netanyahu’s policy of dragging things out. Bennett also called for universal conscription and an end to what he termed “funding draft evasion,” arguing that manpower shortages are hurting the army’s ability to win the war.

On Iran, Bennett said Israel should revive the “octopus doctrine,” meaning simultaneous efforts to stop Iran from reaching nuclear weapons and to weaken the regime in Tehran. “With one hand you prevent Iran from breaking out to the bomb, and with the other you accelerate the collapse of the regime through diplomatic, economic, technological and military tools,” he said. He closed by tying Iran to Israeli politics, saying, “The countdown to replacing the regime in Iran will begin the moment the regime in Israel is replaced.”

Netanyahu is expected to speak at 9:00 p.m., after Israel has so far avoided broad public reaction to the Washington Tehran understandings. His statement comes amid heightened tensions with the United States after the Israeli Air Force strike in Beirut’s Dahiyeh area in response to Hezbollah fire, which angered the White House over fears it could disrupt the Iran talks. U.S. President Donald Trump later sent Netanyahu harsh messages.