Naftali Bennett

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni at Chigi Palace government offices in Rome, Friday, March 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

March 10, 2023, 9:32 pm

Top official blames weakness of Biden, Bennett-Lapid government for Saudi-Iran deal

Official falsely asserts talks began under previous coalition when US was working to re-enter nuclear deal; however, negotiations started when Netanyahu was PM; Lapid derides claim

By Lazar Berman and Jacob Magid

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks at a press conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem on June 20, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/ FLASH90)

March 10, 2023, 4:42 pm

Bennett: Saudi-Iran deal a failure of Israeli efforts to build anti-Tehran coalition

Opposition puts blame on Netanyahu, saying he neglected Iran with focus on judicial overhaul; Likud MK also calls for internal talks ‘to reunite against the existential threat’

By ToI Staff and AFP

View of the Prime Minister's Office in the government quarter in Jerusalem, on March 6, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

March 8, 2023, 8:35 am

Netanyahu said to remove Prime Minister’s Office veteran because she served Bennett

Linor Ofir, bureau administrator at the PMO, previously worked for a decade under Netanyahu in trusted position, but then stayed on at the office when he was ousted in 2021

By ToI Staff

President Isaac Herzog presents Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu with the mandate to form the next government, at the President's Residence in Jerusalem on November 13, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

March 7, 2023, 1:53 pm

Herzog says leaked judicial compromise plan isn’t final; MKs on both sides slam it

After Hebrew media publishes elements of proposal, president’s office says it’s only one of many, and he hasn’t endorsed it; Bennett praises it, while left and right lawmakers fume

By Ash Obel

Left: Head of the Yamina party Naftali Bennett gives a press conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on April 21, 2021; Right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on April 21, 2021 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

February 26, 2023, 11:52 am

‘Despicable lie’: Bennett slams PM for ‘false propaganda’ on Arab community budget

Ex-premier says government approved 5-year spending plan after Netanyahu, as opposition leader, had falsely claimed money was for the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas

By ToI Staff

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett speaks to Channel 12, February 13, 2023. (Channel 12 screenshot: used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

February 14, 2023, 10:34 am

Ex-PM Bennett says overhaul fight marks ‘most dangerous point’ in Israeli history

Former premier backs Herzog plan, says solutions possible; touts override clause compromise; slams efforts to force Netanyahu to take leave of absence due to conflict of interest

By ToI Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Feb.12, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, Pool)

February 13, 2023, 1:05 am

Coalition signals some readiness to weigh Herzog judicial proposal, will delay votes

Justice minister rejects pausing legal overhaul to allow for negotiations, says they can be held as bills advance; opposition welcomes president’s offer as ‘fair basis for talks’

By ToI Staff

A person enters a residential building which was hit by a Russian rocket at the city center of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023. (AP/Andrii Marienko)

February 6, 2023, 1:41 am

Ukraine said to demand Israel denounce Russia ahead of visit by foreign minister

Kyiv also reportedly says government must agree to treat wounded soldiers, loan $500 million and more, with meeting between Eli Cohen and Zelensky hanging in balance

By Ash Obel

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett during an interview published February 4, 2023. (Screenshot: YouTube; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

February 5, 2023, 12:08 pm

Breaking silence, Bennett admits mistakes, urges government not to act ‘power-drunk’

In wide-ranging 5-hour interview, ex-PM laments polarized Israeli discourse, candidly recounts errors he made in forming previous coalition, gives impression he may return

By Michael Bachner

This combination of file pictures created on March 6, 2022, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (L, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (C) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Various sources/AFP)

February 5, 2023, 1:42 am

Bennett: Putin assured me at Moscow meeting he wouldn’t kill Zelensky

Ex-PM says Russian president also agreed not to push for Kyiv’s disarmament; former premier says everything he did was in coordination with US

By ToI Staff

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards the plane to leave Israel on January 31, 2023. (State Department/Twitter)

February 2, 2023, 1:34 pm

Daily Briefing Feb 2: As Blinken flies out of the region, IAF jets bomb Gaza

US correspondent Jacob Magid on Blinken’s visit to PA, hope for US visa waiver; NY reporter Luke Tress on former PM Bennett in the Big Apple, plus advice from Gene Simmons

By ToI Staff

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett arrives at a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on October 23, 2022. (Alex Kolomoisky/Pool)

January 31, 2023, 7:47 am

Bennett vows return to politics; urges US Jews: ‘Don’t give up on Israel’

At NY event, former PM says Israel ‘going through midlife crisis’; claims new gov’t continuing his Iran policies, describes Ukraine, Russia compromises agreed in early war talks

By Luke Tress

Screen grab from an unverified video circulating on social media said to show explosion at a defense facility in Iran's Isfahan after an alleged drone strike, January 28, 2023. (Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

January 30, 2023, 9:40 am

Mossad carried out Iran defense facility strike for Israel’s own interests — report

US officials tell NYT drone attack not aimed at stopping weapons exports to Russia; ex-PM Bennett says he intensified Iran strikes after plot to kill Israelis in Turkey, Cyprus

By ToI Staff

File: Benjamin Netanyahu sits in his car after the inauguration ceremony of a new neighborhood in Beit El, in the West Bank, July 12, 2022. (Sraya Diamant/Flash90)

January 6, 2023, 11:48 pm

Netanyahu fires three veteran motorcade drivers who also ferried Bennett and Lapid

Dismissals of 30-year veterans appear to be extension of effort by PM to clear house of those who worked in previous government, ensure that those who remain are loyal to him

By ToI Staff

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset on November 8, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

January 5, 2023, 11:46 pm

Netanyahu said looking to axe public servants appointed by previous government

Premier’s aides reportedly seeking to bring in loyalists in place of officials hired by Bennett and Lapid, who decries ‘witch hunt’

By ToI Staff