Naftali Bennett

Likud MK David Amsalem attends a Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting on June 26, 2022. (Olivier FItoussi/Flash90)

Analysis

In targeting Amsalem, Netanyahu sends a message to all senior members of Likud

Opposition chief threw his loyalist under the bus over a remark that a coalition with Ra’am is possible; but his public repudiation of Amsalem may yet cost him dearly

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in a Channel 12 TV interview broadcast on June 25, 2022. (Channel 12 screenshot)

Bennett: It sounds like fiction, but Israel needs a coalition from Ben Gvir to Abbas

By TOI staff

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, right, sitting alongside Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, center, and Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman, leads a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on June 26, 2022. (Yoav Dudkevitch)

Chairing his final cabinet meeting, Bennett hails government’s ethos of unity

By TOI staff and AP

Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) smiles ahead of a preliminary vote to dissolve the Knesset for new elections, on June 22, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Knesset passes initial vote to disperse, setting Israel on path to elections

By Carrie Keller-Lynn

June 28, 2022, 8:09 am

Bennett said to eye election run, amid reports to the contrary

Online advertising budget, rally by supporters, telephone poll of Yamina voters and hints to party activists seen among signs of outgoing PM’s plans

By TOI staff

June 27, 2022, 2:31 pm

In targeting Amsalem, Netanyahu sends a message to all senior members of Likud

Opposition chief threw his loyalist under the bus over a remark that a coalition with Ra’am is possible; but his public repudiation of Amsalem may yet cost him dearly

By Shalom Yerushalmi

Magen David workers take COVID-19 rapid antigen tests from Israelis, at a Magen David Adom drive-thru complex in Jerusalem, on June 20, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

June 27, 2022, 2:02 pm

Daily Briefing Jun 27: Israel’s current COVID wave may be much worse than we know

Political correspondent Tal Schneider talks tit-for-tat politics, anti-Netanyahu bills, Israeli takeaways from Roe v. Wade repeal; health reporter Nathan Jeffay on fecal bacteria

By TOI staff

Illustrative image: An Israeli teen walks along a promenade into Israel's Dead Sea, 2021. (Amanda Borschel-Dan/ToI)

June 26, 2022, 2:04 pm

Daily Briefing June 26: Lapid’s 1st battle; introducing ToI film ‘Dead Sea Walking’

Editor David Horovitz gives us the political lay of the land and environment reporter Sue Surkes drills down on problems facing the lowest point on Earth

By TOI staff

June 26, 2022, 1:47 pm

Chairing his final cabinet meeting, Bennett hails government’s ethos of unity

PM points to relative calm on border with Gaza Strip and economic recovery after pandemic as achievements of his diverse 8-party coalition

By TOI staff and AP

Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas, left, holds a press conference at the Knesset, October 25, 2021; Opposition head and Likud chief Benjamin Netanyahu, right, leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, October 25, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

June 26, 2022, 11:01 am

Likud MK says Ra’am could join coalition; Netanyahu disavows comments

Likud immediately dismisses Amsalem’s remarks as ‘contrary to the position’ of opposition leader; Religious Zionism also says it won’t sit with the Islamist party

By TOI staff

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in the Knesset,in Jerusalem on June 20, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

June 26, 2022, 5:34 am

Knesset set to disperse on Monday; Lapid to take over as PM in midweek

Lawmakers reportedly aim to pass dispersal law as soon as possible, with both sides wanting it done quickly; Liberman rules out cooperating with Netanyahu

By TOI staff

June 26, 2022, 1:26 am

Bennett: It sounds like fiction, but Israel needs a coalition from Ben Gvir to Abbas

Outgoing PM says he ought to have spent more time supporting his own party’s MKs: There should have been ‘less Zelensky, more Silman’

By TOI staff

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett visits the official Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem on December 1, 2021. (GPO)

June 25, 2022, 1:29 pm

PM: In retrospect ‘should have taken sleeping bag’ and moved into official residence

Bennett says he was unaware of difficulties and outcry his presence in Ra’anana would cause; Lapid faces trouble moving into premier’s formal home because of neglected upgrades

By Michael Horovitz

Israel's outgoing prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with his successor, incoming Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, after a special session to vote on a new government at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on June 13, 2021. (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP)

June 25, 2022, 12:59 am

Bennett says ‘divisive’ Netanyahu unsuitable as PM, but won’t rule out cooperation

Outgoing PM says he hasn’t decided whether he’ll run again in next elections; Shaked said to have exhausted all efforts to form an alternative coalition in existing Knesset

By TOI staff

MK Mansour Abbas, leader of the Ra'am party in the Knesset, on November 2, 2021. (Noam Moshkavitz/GPO)

June 24, 2022, 9:52 am

As elections loom, Arabs take stock of Ra’am’s year-long experiment in government

The Islamists were supposed to bring historic change to Arab Israeli life, but with slow movement on key policy issues, some voters may punish the party at the polls this fall

By Aaron Boxerman

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attends a graduation ceremony for new pilots at Hatzerim air force base near the southern city of Beersheba, June 23, 2022. (AP/Tsafrir Abayov)

June 24, 2022, 5:33 am

Readying to leave office, Bennett says at IDF ceremony: ‘I did the best I could’

Prime minister, who will likely step down next week, tells new Air Force pilots, ‘I hand over a strong and secure State of Israel’

By TOI staff

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

June 23, 2022, 3:27 pm

For Lapid, a battle against the odds to thwart Netanyahu’s comeback

He’ll have about four months in transitional office to establish his credentials — to show that a PM can both protect Israel from its enemies and champion unity at home

By David Horovitz

Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with then Israeli minister of justice Ayelet Shaked (L) during a vote at the assembly hall of the Israeli parliament on December 21, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

June 23, 2022, 2:00 pm

Daily Briefing June 23: Rebels, kingmakers & unlikely reunions as coalition unravels

Carrie Keller-Lynn updates us on the coalition’s collapse; Palestinian affairs reporter Aaron Boxerman projects forward, and one of the world’s oldest mosques is found

By TOI staff

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett poses for a picture at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, January 26, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

June 23, 2022, 12:57 am

Bennett defends legacy, hails coalition ‘experiment’ as a ‘success’ in NYT interview

Premier expresses pride that coalition was able to ‘set aside ideological disagreements’ and work together, says collapse caused by opponents who preyed on its ‘weakest links’

By TOI staff