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Sunday, April 12, 2026
Bennett threatens lawsuit against Likud over claims that new party candidate was member of Brothers in Arms
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela 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’s party says it has sent a legal warning ahead of a possible lawsuit against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and a pro-Likud news outlet over what it calls defamatory claims that party candidate Keren Terner was a member of the reservist-led Brothers in Arms organization.
“Keren Terner has never been a member of the Brothers in Arms organization and has never been involved in any way in calls for refusal to serve,” says a statement from the Bennett 2026 party.
The statement clarifies that Terner, who previously served as director general in both the transportation and finance ministries, only volunteered with the civilian emergency response hub established by the organization and others following the Hamas-led terror onslaught of October 7, 2023, to “assist tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers, and reservists when state systems collapsed.”
It adds that the hub “did not engage in politics” and “received support from across the political spectrum for its vital work during one of Israel’s most difficult moments.”
The legal warning comes after Likud earlier today assailed Bennett for adding Terner to his electoral slate, accusing him of recruiting a figure from the Brothers in Arms protest movement.
The group played a central role in the mass protests against the government’s 2023 judicial overhaul plans, and Netanyahu’s supporters have repeatedly accused it of encouraging reservists to refuse service by threatening to stop volunteering if the overhaul moved forward.
The Times of Israel Community.