Bennett says political echelon preventing IDF from winning ‘in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran’

By Ariela Karmel

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26 March 2026, 9:58 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 attends the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, on February 17, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett accuses the government of putting politics ahead of national security, calling on the government to conscript ultra-Orthodox men amid ongoing IDF warnings about a deepening manpower shortage.

“There is a political echelon here that prevents the IDF from winning,” Bennett says during an interview with Channel 12, arguing that the current leadership “does not know how to win anywhere — not in Gaza nor in Lebanon, or Iran.”

“The IDF is 20,000 soldiers short. There are 100,000 young Haredim of military age in good health today, and if they only recruited a fifth of them, there would be no problem. But the government puts politics above everything, and that’s why we’ve reached this point,” he says.

Bennett, who is running in the upcoming national election, says further that “we established a Haredi state here,” calling for the ultra-Orthodox community to integrate into the military, the workforce, and the education system, and for government benefits to be conditioned on employment and service.

“Whoever doesn’t work doesn’t get a penny. Whoever doesn’t serve doesn’t get a penny,” he says.

Despite his criticism, Bennett says he supports the ongoing war, calling it justified and praising the IDF, but stresses that success must be measured by concrete strategic outcomes rather than declarations of victory.

Bennett, who remains the leading frontrunner to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, explicitly rules out joining any government with him, declaring, “I’m the only one who can replace Netanyahu.”