‘Muslim Brotherhood collaborator’: Right-wing agitators crash event hosted by Bennett

A group of far-right activists infiltrated a town hall hosted by former prime minister Naftali Bennett in Rishon Lezion on Monday evening, and accused him of being a power-hungry collaborator of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The protesters were referring to Bennett’s reliance on the Islamist Ra’am party, led by MK Mansour Abbas, to form his short-lived coalition government in 2021.

Ra’am is the political wing of the Southern Islamic Movement, a group inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood, a global Islamist organization that has been outlawed in around a dozen countries for alleged links to terrorism.

Abbas has repeatedly denied any connection to the organization, but announced in December that his party would split from the religious movement it is linked to and establish its own institutions.

Bennett, in response to the instigators, defended his decision to include Ra’am in his coalition, but acknowledged that he is unlikely to do so again if he wins the election later this year, given the shift in public attitudes following the October 7, 2023, assault.

In video footage published by Ynet from the event, the right-wing activists are seen shouting through a megaphone at members of the audience as they walk past.

“You believe in a fraud, a conman, and a megalomaniac!” shouted one man, identified by the news outlet as Likud activist Rami Ben-Yehuda.

Ben-Yehuda also accused Bennett of being a “Muslim Brotherhood collaborator.”

המוקד: פעילי ליכוד הפריעו לכנס של נפתלי בנט בראשון לציון וקראו לעברו קריאות. בנט גינה את ההפרעה וקרא לנתניהו להתמודד מולו בדיבייט פתוח: "תהיה גבר ואל תשלח פעילים" | (ערוץ 24) pic.twitter.com/eX3TOB86fN

— חדשות המוקד (@hamoked_il) February 2, 2026

Likewise, several activists who were seated among the audience members made themselves known to Bennett, accusing him mid-event of being involved with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Other audience members can be heard yelling back at them in footage of the event.

Bennett, speaking from the stage of the event space, acknowledged that he had gone back on his word when forming his government in 2021, as he had initially vowed not to work with Abbas.

“I’m constantly asked about ‘You promised and you broke your promise about Mansour Abbas,'” he said. “First, that’s true, I can’t change history. I said I wouldn’t sit with him, and in the end I did.”

“I take responsibility and stand by the decision, including the justified criticism,” he said, apologizing only for going back on his word, rather than for including Abbas in his government, a decision that he said he still stood by.

“I didn’t know Mansour Abbas, and like all the other parties, I said I wouldn’t sit with him,” he explained of his initial refusal to work with Ra’am.

Still, he appeared to suggest he was not in a hurry to form another coalition that relied on Arab parties to pass the 61-seat minimum threshold.

“Since October 7, there has been no mandate in the State of Israel to form a government based on the Arab parties,” he said, promising instead to lead a Zionist “national unity government.”

Bennett also rejected accusations that he had harmed Israel’s security by including Ra’am in his government, comparing his achievements to the actions and decisions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“He allowed Hezbollah to build tents [on the Lebanese border], he gave in to Hamas’s threats regarding the [Jerusalem Day] flag march in Jerusalem,” Bennett said, referring to two separate incidents, years apart.

“He agreed to the Palestinians establishing an American consulate in East Jerusalem,” Bennett continued. “I told the [US] president, ‘I respect you, but Jerusalem is a Jewish capital only,’ and I said no. I stood firm.”

The former premier also accused Netanyahu of dispatching the right-wing activists to interrupt his event.

“Instead of debating me, which he is afraid to do, he sends activists to interfere,” Bennett accused. “Be a man, confront me. Don’t send activists.

“Whenever you want, name a place, name a time, I’m ready to challenge Bibi on every issue,” he declared, adding: “But not through paid activists.”

The hawkish politician is widely seen as Netanyahu’s primary challenger for the premiership in this year’s Knesset election.