Former Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, told a televised interview that current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “must go,” asserting that Netanyahu’s two-decade hold on power is having a negative impact on Israeli society.
Speaking on Channel 12 on Saturday, Bennett declared that Netanyahu “has been in power for 20 years… that’s too much, it’s not healthy.”
He added that Netanyahu bears “heavy responsibility for the divisions in Israeli society,” stemming in part from his handling of the Gaza war since October 2023 .
Bennett, who in 2021 joined forces with critics of Netanyahu to briefly end his 12‑year run, stopped short of confirming whether he plans to challenge him directly at the polls.
“Netanyahu ‘must go”, said the former prime minister, a right‑wing leader who helped form the coalition that briefly unseated Netanyahu .
He criticised what he called the Netanyahu government’s “inability to decide” on pressing national issues.
Instead, Bennett called for an immediate, “comprehensive” agreement to secure the release of remaining hostages in Gaza, urging to “leave the task of eliminating Hamas to a future government” .
Bennett also emphasised that although the Israeli military’s performance in Gaza has been “exceptional,” the political leadership overseeing the campaign has been “a catastrophe, a disaster,” blaming Netanyahu’s administration for policy paralysis.
Bennett briefly led a unity government with Yair Lapid in 2021, ending Netanyahu’s 12‑year administration, before that coalition collapsed and Netanyahu returned to power .
The ongoing conflict in Gaza, which began with Hamas’s October 2023 attack, remains a significant point of contention and contributed to electoral uncertainty .
