Bennett agrees to pay strategist who says he advised him during last election

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett agreed to settle out of court with a political strategist who claims to have advised the premier during the previous election, ending a legal dispute on Monday.

Attorneys for Bennett and Udi Raiter agreed that the prime minister would pay an undisclosed amount that would not be publicized, rather than bringing the matter in court, Hebrew media said.

Since the election, Raiter has demanded compensation for what he said were the services he provided Bennett in the formation of economic and health plans during the election campaign. He said Bennett had copied ideas from him without giving any credit.

Bennett has insisted that he never agreed to pay Raiter for his work and that there was no agreement with the strategist to hire him to work on the Yamina party’s campaign.

But Bennett appeared to prefer to end the matter quietly and, in agreeing to pay Raiter, effectively acknowledged the services he provided.

Yamina issued a statement Monday saying, “We confirm that Mr. Yehuda (Udi) Reiter provided the party with advisory services as part of the 24th Knesset election campaign and we wish him success in his future endeavors.”