Naftali Bennett attacks Netanyahu: "He is their puppet" - and draws a red line

Naftali Bennett sharply attacks Benjamin Netanyahu, placing direct and personal responsibility on him for the October 7 massacre, rules out serving under him, and draws a red line against Haredi partnership in the next government. Bennett calls for a change of government and pledges to limit the prime minister's term to eight years.

Naftali Bennett sharply attacked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview with 103FM, placing direct and personal responsibility on him for the October 7 massacre. Bennett rejected the claim that Netanyahu's responsibility is merely ministerial, and detailed a series of specific decisions he says led to the disaster: 14 years of appeasing Hamas, cementing the perception that Hamas is an asset, containing attacks before the massacre, tearing the nation apart in 2023, and ignoring warnings. Bennett shared a personal experience from Kfar Aza on the day of the massacre, describing a dissonance between what was happening on the ground and the pace of the state response. He categorically ruled out serving under Netanyahu, calling him "the person destroying the State of Israel," and defined the current government as "the most dangerous and most terrible in the history of the State of Israel." Bennett drew a red line against partnership with an anti-Zionist Haredi party in the next government, and warned of demographic consequences of not drafting Haredim. He pledged to work to limit the prime minister's term to eight years, contrary to his previous position, explaining that recent years have proven it necessary. Bennett claimed his party is on the rise in the last two weeks, and called for a struggle for a change of government while appealing to disappointed Likud voters.