Bennett: "We will be in the government, I hope I will head it"

Chairman of the "Beyachad" party, Naftali Bennett, addressed the question of whether he sees himself as the next Prime Minister this evening in an interview on the "Meet the Press" program on Channel 12. Bennett answered with a somewhat defeatist attitude, sounding like someone who has come to terms with the fact that Gadi Eisenkot will lead the "change bloc": "We will be in the government, I also hope that I will head it."

Bennett also addressed the political union with Yair Lapid, calling it a correct move from a leadership perspective. He explained that, in his view, a government should reflect a variety of political voices — both from the right and the left — while the true common denominator between partners should be the desire to "fix" the country, rather than a shared political identity.

When asked about past criticism regarding unfulfilled promises, Bennett shifted the discussion to his value-based principles: "I have a value-based compass that always leads me — what is the right thing for the State of Israel. I am going to fix the State of Israel after the chaos that was here."

Regarding the issue of the Haredim, Bennett did not spare criticism towards their leaders. He stated that anyone expecting that presenting the "gravity of the hour" to the Haredi public would lead to an agreement on conscription is greatly mistaken. "It will not happen," he stated, adding that in the past, the chairmen of Shas and United Torah Judaism, Aryeh Deri and Yitzhak Goldknopf, "led generations of politicians around" on this issue.

When asked about Qatar, Bennett claimed it is an even more dangerous factor than Iran. According to him, while the Iranian threat is visible to all, Qatar operates more covertly — through involvement in universities worldwide and proximity to the most sensitive security hub, the office of the Prime Minister of Israel.

Regarding Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit, Bennett refused to evaluate his performance, shifting the criticism toward the government, which he claimed "does not know how to function." However, he noted that the judicial system needs reform and proposed the adoption of a constitution as the preferred solution.

Regarding cooperation with Arab parties, Bennett clarified that he does not rule out cooperation based on ethnic identity, citing Yoseph Haddad as an example of a potential partner. However, he emphasized that his red line is that any government he participates in must be a "Zionist government." When asked if he would rule out a coalition with Mansour Abbas's Ra'am party, Bennett refrained from giving an unequivocal answer. Finally, he stated that in a government he leads, "sensitive portfolios should not be at the edges — they should be in the center."