Bennett Says Israel Can Prevail Without Netanyahu, Slams Iran Deal Handling

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett sharply criticized Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday morning in an interview on Kan News radio, blaming him for Israel’s handling of the war with Iran and for the U.S.-Iran agreement signed by Washington. Bennett said foreign interests had shaped Netanyahu’s choices and hurt Israel’s standing abroad, especially with the United States and President Donald Trump. “The current government is no longer capable of advancing Israel,” he said.

Bennett attacked Netanyahu’s statement at his press conference the night before the agreement, when the prime minister said Iran would never get a nuclear weapon as long as he remained in office. Bennett called that “terrible” and argued it implied Israel would be destroyed if Netanyahu left office. He added that the claim that the Jewish people cannot survive without Netanyahu is “horrible,” false, and anti-leadership, saying a good leader builds a nation that is not dependent on one person. He also linked the October 7 massacre, the worst disaster since Israel’s founding, to Netanyahu’s term.

On whether Iran still poses an existential threat, Bennett said Tehran’s nuclear program has not been dismantled, its ballistic missile system and related production facilities are still operating, though at reduced scale, and the “Iranian terror octopus” still exists. He said the government has not met the three objectives it set for itself, despite some wartime achievements.

Bennett urged the public to “raise your heads” and said a different leadership could produce major results. He said he would not have reached the current diplomatic situation with Washington because he would have acted differently from the start, including avoiding what he called wasting political credit on issues unrelated to Israel’s national interest. He pointed to Trump’s pressure on President Isaac Herzog for a pardon as an example of a non-national issue. Bennett also blamed the deterioration in Israel’s international standing partly on what he called the “embarrassing conduct” of cabinet ministers, whom he described as “TikTok ministers” making childish provocations.

Looking ahead to elections, Bennett said a “correction bloc” should be led by a right-wing figure who has already served as prime minister. Asked whether he could work with Gadi Eisenkot, he said, “I will do whatever is needed.” He argued that the only way to beat Netanyahu is to lead the anti-Netanyahu camp with a right-wing former premier, saying Israeli society has moved rightward and that he alone can defeat Netanyahu again.