Bennett suggests Netanyahu could be part of future government, sparking opposition ire

Former prime minister and B’Yachad chair Naftali Bennett suggested today that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be a part of a future government, and even serve as a minister, so long as he is willing to accept its “core tenets” — leading to backlash from other opposition chiefs.

In remarks which he later insisted were not serious, Bennett, speaking at an event organized by the religious Zionist newspaper, HaDor, said that if Netanyahu were to fully accept the policies laid out by the Zionist anti-Netanyahu bloc, he would have “no problem” bringing Likud into the fold.

“If he accepts our policy guidelines — including a state commission of inquiry [into the October 7 attack] — he’s welcome to give me a call,” Bennett said, to laughter from the audience.

Asked about the possibility of Netanyahu being elected for another term as prime minister, Bennett suggested that he was perhaps too old for the job now.

“I don’t know if a man nearing 80 has the energy for that,” he said.

Bennett’s comments received a cool response from his allies in the anti-Netanyahu bloc, who have categorically ruled out cooperating with the Likud leader.

Yashar chair Gadi Eisenkot, who is polling equal with or slightly ahead of Netanyahu, dismissed the suggestion during his own appearance at the HaDor conference, asserting that “everyone who was in office [on October 7] is unfit to serve in command and leadership roles.”

Yair Golan, chair of the left-wing Democrats party, similarly declared that as long as his party has any say in the matter, Netanyahu will not receive a role in government, “not as finance minister, not as water minister, and not as a minister without a portfolio.”

Meanwhile, Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman said: “I call on my colleagues in the Zionist bloc to make it unequivocally clear: Come hell or high water, we will not sit in a government with Netanyahu. In the next government, Netanyahu cannot serve even as regional cooperation minister.”

Responding to the backlash, Bennett said: “I suggest everyone calm down. I’ve said a thousand times that Netanyahu bears direct and personal responsibility for the October 7 massacre and must therefore go home. We will not sit in a government with him under any circumstances.”

He went on: “Anyone who saw my remarks today understood that they were meant to illustrate the absurdity of the situation, since Netanyahu opposes universal conscription, a state commission of inquiry and a constitution for Israel.”