Former prime minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday presented the election platform of his party, Yachad, under the name “A New Deal,” describing it as a sweeping plan to rebuild Israel’s state systems. Bennett said the “agreement between the state and its citizens has been broken,” arguing that the previous government had damaged many institutions beyond repair and that only a full “tear down and rebuild” approach could restore security, success, and public trust.
Bennett said the next government should be a “constituent government” and a “Ben-Gurion style government.” He claimed that over the past two years he assembled a team with top Israeli experts to design fundamental fixes to the country’s deepest problems, asking them how they would build “a great state from scratch.”
On security, Bennett said the plan would shift Israel “from rounds to decision,” add 20,000 soldiers to the IDF, and adopt an “zero tolerance” policy toward drones and rockets. He said Israel would end its diplomatic isolation, pursue regional alliances, and create a national public diplomacy body, joking that if there is elite Unit 8200, there should be a “8300” to fight Qatar, Iran, and anti-Israel forces. On internal security, he said organized crime, extortion, shootings, and territorial takeovers should be treated as a national security threat, not merely criminal matters, and said he would convene the security cabinet with the IDF chief, the Shin Bet chief, and enforcement agencies to fight crime “the Al Capone way.”
Bennett also promised to rebuild education by cutting bureaucracy and closing what he called the old “1948” Education Ministry in favor of a “2026” version. He said the state spends about 50,000 shekels per child on average, but without private-school quality, and that the money should go to children, classrooms, and teachers. On ultra-Orthodox integration, he said the country is on a “slow-motion suicide” path and claimed a separate ultra-Orthodox, anti-Zionist system has grown with state funding. In economics, he vowed to wage war on food cartels, named Bright Food’s acquisition of Tnuva, and told Tnuva, Shufersal, Unilever, Diplomat, and others that “the party is over” on his first day in office.
