Bennett unveils “New Deal” plan with military draft, welfare cuts, and government overhaul

Naftali Bennett, head of the Yachad movement, presented his new political program on Tuesday morning, calling it “A New Deal” and saying it is meant to fix Israel’s problems at their root. He said that over the past two years his team worked with leading professionals to build a broad reform plan.

In education, Bennett said Israeli children should receive a public education comparable to private schools. He said the state currently spends about 50,000 shekels per child on average, which he described as the cost of a private school without its quality. He promised to close what he called the “1948 education ministry” and open a “2026 education ministry,” while cutting bureaucracy and directing money to children, classrooms, and teachers.

On the ultra-Orthodox issue, Bennett said he would dismantle what he called a “state within a state” and end funding for ultra-Orthodox education, which he said is harming the country. He said the current relationship with the ultra-Orthodox is “a slow-motion suicide,” and promised an alternative framework.

Economically, Bennett vowed a “war of annihilation” against food cartels, saying foreign actors had entered the food market and pushed prices up. He named Bright Food, the Chinese company that bought Tnuva, along with Shufersal, Unilever, Diplomat and others, and said, “On my first day in office, the party is over.”

He also said organized crime would be treated as a national security threat, not a routine criminal issue, and said he would convene a security cabinet with the army chief, Shin Bet chief and enforcement agencies to act “the Al Capone way.” In security and diplomacy, he promised 20,000 additional soldiers, a policy of zero tolerance for hostile fire, an end to isolation, regional alliances, a national hasbara body, and the closure of seven government ministries.