Ex-PM Bennett says Israel needs a centrist government for next 10-20 years

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett says Israel needs to be run by a centrist government for the next 10 to 20 years in order to restore internal stability.

In a briefing with reporters in Washington, Bennett speculates that the polarizing conduct of the current government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will lead Israelis to believe that such a hardline composition of right-wing lawmakers should not be entrusted to run the country, similar to the conclusion drawn by many Israelis regarding more left-wing governments after the Second Intifada.

Bennett led Israel’s most diverse unity government, which spanned from his since-defunct Yamina party on the right to the Meretz party to the left alongside the Islamist Ra’am party.

His coalition fell apart in 2022 after just one year due to internal divisions. Despite its short-lived nature, Bennett says he still believes that the makeup of his government can be a model moving forward.

“My opinions are right of center, and I have not changed my opinions, but I have become a huge believer in the need for moderacy in the way we govern Israel. I’m a radical moderate. I believe that Israel for the next decade or two needs centrist governments that can focus on on the 70 percent of the issues that Israelis agree upon, while setting aside the 30% of issues that are in ideological conflict,” he says, highlighting a talking point he on which he leaned heavily while leading the previous government, which refused to launch diplomatic negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

“I think [this] is the only way forward for the next 10 to 20 years. We have to pull ourselves out of this ongoing polarization and toxic dialogue, and I believe Israel can succeed by doing that,” Bennett says.

The stance represents a remarkable change for Bennett, who before becoming prime minister was one of Netanyahu’s fiercest critics from the right, leading the national religious Jewish Home party and pushing for the annexation of large parts of the West Bank.

Commenting on the ongoing protests in Israel against the government’s effort to overhaul the judiciary, Bennett says, “I see that our enemies believe that the protests are a sign of weakness. They are misinterpreting what Israel is about. This is a sign of strength, democracy in Israel will prevail, and Israel will come out stronger for all of this.”