From the Liveblog of
Sunday, June 8, 2025
Bennett’s new political party completes registration process
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Naftali Bennett’s temporarily named “Bennett 2026” political party has completed the official registration process, allowing the former prime minister to run for the next Knesset without having to pay off the debts of his old Yamina party, Kan reports.
Responding to the report, Social Equality Minister May Golan of Likud accuses Bennett of having stolen the votes of rightwing voters in the last election and says that he is only running for office in order to access taxpayer money in order to pay for “another renovation in the basement of the villa in Ra’anana.”
Bennett’s party is currently polling ahead of Likud, despite having no members announced beyond Bennett himself.
In 2022, then prime minister Bennett’s office rejected a media report that alleged extravagant spending at his Ra’anana home, saying its expenses were far lower than those of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Bennett, who led the now-defunct right-wing Yamina party, has been out of office since the 2022 collapse of his diverse coalition government, which in 2021 ousted Prime Minister Netanyahu from the premiership after 12 consecutive years, following a period of political turmoil that saw four national elections held in three years.
A Channel 12 poll published last week found that the anti-Netanyahu bloc, if led by former prime minister Naftali Bennett and his newly registered party, would win 72 Knesset seats if elections were held today.
The Times of Israel Community.