Bennett, Liberman lay out plans to pass laws against Netanyahu immediately after election

Two hawkish opposition party leaders on Saturday laid out their plans for the period following the upcoming October 27 Knesset elections, vowing to immediately work to form a government and to quickly pass a series of laws, including term limits for prime minister and a ban on criminal defendants from serving as premier — moves aimed at ending Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political career.

“We will swear in the government at 7 p.m. and immediately hold the first meeting in the Knesset, where we will bring to a vote the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre,” B’Yachad party leader Naftali Bennett said at a meeting with party activists.

Netanyahu has refused to establish such an inquiry into the failures that led to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, arguing that an independent panel appointed by the Supreme Court president would be biased against the government. He has argued instead for a panel appointed by lawmakers, with its mandate and scope set by politicians from the coalition and the opposition, equally. However, his government is yet to form any inquiry, more than three years after the disaster.

“The second thing we will do immediately after that will be to approve a government bill to limit the term of office of prime minister to 8 years,” Bennett said, adding: “In the past, I did not see a need for this.”

Netanyahu has served as prime minister for 19 total years, first from 1996 to 1999, then 2009-2021, then from 2022 until now. He is far and away Israel’s longest-serving leader.

Bennett said the third thing the new government will do is pass a comprehensive draft law, ending the blanket military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men that the current government has attempted to enshrine into law.

Also offering his plans for the period immediately following the upcoming elections, Yisrael Beytenu party chairman Avigdor Liberman said in a post on X on Saturday that “immediately upon the convening of the 26th Knesset, we will act to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and elect a new Knesset speaker.”

Several opposition leaders have said that even if no majority government is formed right after the elections, replacing Ohana as Knesset speaker is a priority, as changing the speaker before a government is formed would give opposition parties control over the parliamentary agenda.

“After that, we will pass the ‘defendants’ law’ in three readings — and with that, the story ends,” Liberman said, referring to a prospective law that would bar criminal defendants from serving as prime minister.

Current law forbids criminal defendants from serving as ministers but not as prime minister, which has allowed Netanyahu to serve in the role for the past several years despite his ongoing criminal cases for alleged corruption, fraud and breach of trust.

“We must oust Bibi,” he said, using Netanyahu’s nickname.

It remains unclear whether the High Court of Justice would uphold the laws directly targeting Netanyahu or strike them down due to their personal nature.

Lapid: ‘I don’t trust Netanyahu on security matters’

Also on Saturday, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid — now running as Bennett’s No. 2 on the B’Yachad slate — said that he does not trust Netanyahu on security matters when asked whether the premier could launch a military strike against Iran that would lead to the postponement of the October 27 election.

“I trust the army, I trust the [IDF] chief of staff. I don’t trust Netanyahu on security matters. He cannot be trusted,” Lapid told Channel 12 in an interview.

“There is no intelligence — and I am familiar with the most sensitive intelligence — that justifies preventing elections from taking place in Israel,” he said.

“I’m not saying we shouldn’t attack Iran. But there is no intelligence justification for an attack on Iran that would disrupt the elections.”

Asked about the possibility of US President Donald Trump intervening in the Knesset election by endorsing Netanyahu or another candidate, Lapid said: “We are asking him not to interfere in Israel’s elections.”

“We are a democracy. I don’t think an Israeli prime minister should interfere in elections in the United States, and I don’t think an American president should interfere in Israeli elections,” he added.

Netanyahu urges voter turnout ahead of ‘tied’ election

Meanwhile, in his own interview, Netanyahu warned that the election is effectively tied and that the outcome will depend on voter turnout, in a rare interview with Hebrew-language media urging his supporters to head to the polls.

“We’re tied,” Netanyahu told i24news, which is owned by French-Israeli billionaire and Netanyahu ally Patrick Drahi. “If we get the extra mandate or two extra mandates because people come out to vote, we’ll win, and if they don’t come out and stay home, we’ll lose.”

“That’s why I’m appearing here, to tell all my supporters who really want a strong right-wing government: Go out to vote,” he said, urging supporters of his bloc to bring their grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins to the polls.

Recent polls have consistently shown neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the Jewish-led opposition parties securing the 61 seats needed for a Knesset majority. The latest survey by The Times of Israel’s sister site Zman Yisrael gives Netanyahu’s bloc 49 seats to the opposition’s 54, with Eisenkot’s Yashar emerging as the largest party.

Asked whether the October 27 election will take place on schedule amid concerns about a possible war with Iran, Netanyahu replied, “Of course, as far as it depends on me,” but then alleged that Israel’s enemies, including Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, are seeking to interfere in the vote.

“They all say the same thing: Netanyahu has to lose,” he claimed, adding that Israel is seeing signs of attempts to interfere in the election, including by “creating security incidents.”

Netanyahu also left open the possibility of military action against Iran, despite touting his government’s achievements against Tehran. “We did 90 percent of the work, but you know, it’s like cancer. If you don’t get rid of this regime in Iran, it will come back,” he said.