Bennett says he won’t allow Israel’s ‘failed leadership’ to continue, warns: ‘A divided Israel will not stand’

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett says he will not allow Israel’s “failed” leadership to continue or be part of it, and that a leader “must know when to step aside,” in what appear to be his first remarks suggesting that he will not sit in a government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“An Israel divided against itself will not stand,” Bennett tells Jewish leaders at a Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations gathering in Jerusalem.

“Israel’s current leadership has divided us and continues to divide us even now, more than ever… I will not allow that failed and divisive leadership to continue, nor will I be part of it. I intend to lead Israel into its next, stronger chapter,” he continues.

Though he doesn’t refer to Netanyahu by name, Bennett appears to suggest that the prime minister should step down.

“After three decades since taking power, and after the greatest disaster in Israel’s history happened on his watch, a leader must know when to step aside with dignity,” he says.

Bennett adds that Israel’s “next chapter must be written by new leadership” and not by “the same people that are responsible for the disaster”of the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, which saw the killing of some 1,200 people and the abduction of 251 hostages, sparking two years of war in Gaza.

Netanyahu has served as prime minister since 2009, with the exception of 18 months in 2021-2022, as well as previously serving in 1996-1999.

He has never acknowledged direct responsibility for the failures surrounding October 7 and has attempted to place the blame on others.

Bennett is widely seen as Netanyahu’s primary challenger for the premiership in this year’s election, which must be held by the end of October but could come earlier if the coalition collapses.