Bennett calls Netanyahu the ‘Israeli Forrest Gump’ after PM deflects blame for Oct. 7

By Ariela Karmel

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8 February 2026, 9:00 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett gives a video statement on December 23, 2025. (Screen capture/X)

Naftali Bennett mocks Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lengthy document attempting to deflect blame for the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack, calling the longtime premier “the Israeli Forrest Gump, a weak, pitiful, helpless nebech who just happened to stumble into events.”

“He is not a leader, but someone who is led. He is not a commander, but a subordinate,” he continues.

The video statement from Bennett, the former prime minister considered Netanyahu’s most credible challenger in this year’s elections, refers to the classic 1994 film whose title character is a bystander to, or unwitting influence on, a series of pivotal events in the postwar US. The word “nebech” is a Yiddish pejorative roughly translating to “wimp.”

Bennett’s statement comes in response to the premier’s publication last week of a 55-page document of answers he gave to State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman as part of the ombudsman’s investigation into the October 7 attack.

Netanyahu, who has served as prime minister since 2009, save for a period of 18 months from 2021-2022, has been criticized for seeking to portray himself as having sought far-reaching action against Hamas, while being thwarted by the objections of security chiefs and the lack of public backing for such a move.

“Netanyahu has criticism of the security establishment — so do I,” Bennett says, but notes that Netanyahu was “not a cabinet minister. He was the prime minister of Israel and the supreme commander of the State of Israel for 12.5 out of the 14 years preceding the greatest disaster in Israel’s history.”

He further criticizes and mocks the prime minister for suggesting that he was “incapable” of commanding his own army or intelligence organizations.

“What emerges from it is that Netanyahu did not lead, did not manage, and did not govern,” Bennett says, adding that while the prime minister sought to absolve himself, he has instead drafted “the most severe indictment imaginable against a prime minister in Israel.”

He adds, “In the 55 pages of this document, you see a weak man who allows the Hezbollah monster to grow before his eyes in the north and the Hamas monster to grow in the south to enormous dimensions, and he does nothing.”