Shikli Calls Bennett's Poll Drop 'Poetic Justice'

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Shikli launched a sharp attack on former prime minister Naftali Bennett, saying Bennett's decline in the polls is “poetic justice” after he broke promises to voters. In an interview with Boaz Golan, Shikli described the slump as a “magnificent collapse” by someone, he said, who deceived and lied to his electorate.

Shikli accused Bennett of violating a series of commitments, including promising not to form a left-wing government, not to “crown” Yair Lapid, and not to demand the premiership with a single-digit number of Knesset seats. He said Bennett had taken votes from people who trusted him fully and acted in direct contradiction to what he had promised “again and again and again.”

The minister also mocked Bennett's renewed political ambitions and his attempt to return as a candidate for prime minister. “That this man dares to leave his house requires clarification,” Shikli said, adding that Bennett's effort to present himself again for the top job “already requires diagnosis.”