Man arrested for throwing salt shakers at Bennett during campaign stop in Bnei Brak

The Tel Aviv District Court on Friday ordered that a man remain in custody after being arrested a day earlier for throwing two salt shakers at former prime minister and B’Yachad party leader Naftali Bennett during a campaign stop in central Israel.

Eliya Azard, a resident of the Haredi-majority city of Bnei Brak where Bennett was recording a campaign video, will remain in custody until Sunday.

Bennett was being filmed at a restaurant for his social media series, “Parliament,” when a far-right mob showed up, instigating disruptions.

Footage showed Bennett sitting and talking with young Haredi voters when two salt shakers were thrown in his direction. A female member of his staff close by was injured, his party said in a statement.

She was treated by Magen David Adom emergency services on the scene.

In separate footage shared on X, Bennett is seen being escorted out of the restaurant by police and his security detail. B’Yachad later thanked the security forces for their quick action.

תיעוד השלכת החפץ על בנט במסעדה בבני ברק אמש. החשוד, בן 26, לא שיתף פעולה בחקירה והובא הבוקר לבית משפט@uri_sela (צילום: סעיף 27א לחוק זכויות היוצרים) pic.twitter.com/ysAKkqpKd6

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) September 25, 2026

One of the far-right activists present was pro-government provocateur Mordechai David, to whom Bennett is heard saying in a video: “I suggest you enlist [in the army] tomorrow, because from the moment I am prime minister you won’t receive a shekel from the state.”

הפרגוד: בנט חולץ ממסעדת מוטיס' בבני ברק לאחר שקיצונים הגיעו למקום ואיימו לפגוע בו pic.twitter.com/s8TPIGURh6

— הפרגוד (@moshepargod) September 24, 2026

David is a convicted felon who did not serve in the IDF, apparently due to his criminal record.

Last month, he aggressively confronted opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot on a beach, accusing him of advocating surrender following the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught, prompting the former IDF chief to similarly chide him for not serving in the military.

The incident occurred as Bennett has been traveling to communities across the country to record segments of “Parliament,” in which he sits with locals and discusses hot-button political issues with voters across the electoral spectrum, including Haredi yeshiva students, taxi drivers, small business owners and pro-democracy supporters. Some of those discussions have turned heated.

In an in-depth interview with The Times of Israel in June, Bennett said Israel is facing “an existential moment,” and warned that another term under the current government would leave the country without a functioning economy, society or international position.

“Another four years with this government, we won’t have an economy, we won’t have a society,” he charged. “The Haredi issue will just crash us all. We won’t have an international standing anywhere. We have to act now.”

As Israelis gear up to vote for a new government on October 27, the latest poll by Times of Israel’s Hebrew sister site, Zman Yisrael shows both pro- and anti-Benjamin Netanyahu blocs tied and both far from winning a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.

The poll shows the two presumed blocs tied with 53 seats each. Arab-led parties would win the remaining 14 seats — eight for the Joint List and six for Ra’am. The result leaves both blocs eight seats shy of the 61 needed for a majority.

Leading the poll is Eisenkot’s Yashar party with 23 seats, followed by Netanyahu with 21. Next come Bennett’s opposition B’Yachad with 12, and the hawkish opposition Yisrael Beytenu and pro-Netanyahu Sephardi Haredi Shas party, both with 10.

While Eisenkot is leading polls, Bennett and Yisrael Beytenu’s Avigdor Liberman have professed that they’re running for the job.