Prime Minister Naftali Bennett says he is not “vetoing” Netanyahu, but that what Israel needs is unity. “Netanyahu is not an enemy. He gave a great deal” to Israel “but let’s move on.”
Asked about the ostensible high cost of getting his home in Ra’anana into shape to serve as a prime ministerial residence, he says people are “spinning” lies against him. “I don’t need a shekel from the state,” he tells Channel 12. “I’m fine [financially].”
He says Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is a “friend” who is doing excellent work in the Foreign Ministry, and talks happily of his recent summit talks in Egypt with President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi and UAE crown prince Mohammed Bin Zayed.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid sits with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo, December 9, 2021 (Shlomi Amsalem/GPO)
Asked again how long the coalition will hold, Bennett says “It can see out its full term. It depends… This crisis has reminded people of the abyss that we could return to” of endless election campaigns “for one man’s legal needs.”
People need to put aside narrow political interests and work for the good of the State of Israel, he says.
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