Bennett admits he didn’t pay enough attention to party

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett appears to admit to Channel 13 news that he let his Yamina faction fall apart without him, but says it was only because he was putting all of his efforts into fixing the country.

He claims to be free of any political machinations, saying he only acts according to “what is good for the country.”

He says Yamina MK Abir Kara, also considering defecting, was correct when he criticized Bennett for not doing enough “to embrace” his right-wing faction and their right-wing base.

“He’s right,” he says. “Politics is very, very complicated. I’m stepping things up to deal with this.”

Bennett tells the channel that Yamina mutineers will not jump ship because the result will be “an abyss,” which he means to be more elections, dismissing the idea of an alternate Netanyahu government as a “fiction.”

He also dismisses criticism over his use of the term “West Bank,” and hints that he is no longer actively involved in mediating between Russia and Ukraine.

“When they call, I help them,” he says.