Bennett: Netanyahu can serve as minister in next gov't if he backs opposition's key principles

Bennett said Netanyahu could serve as a minister in his government if he backed a state inquiry, universal military enlistment, and a constitution for Israel.

B'Yachad party leader Naftali Bennett did not rule out serving in a government with Netanyahu as a minister, while addressing other political issues in an interview with Hador newspaper on Sunday. 

"I have no problem with Netanyahu serving as a minister in our government. Netanyahu was one of the best finance ministers the State of Israel has ever had," Bennett said.

Bennett said this with the caveat that Netanyahu would accept all of the party's central principles, which include "an immediate state commission of inquiry, military enlistment for everyone, and a constitution for Israel; he should pick up the phone."

Bennett also criticizes the conduct of the coalition and political discourse, believing that changes were needed and the problem the government is facing is the belief that MKs are not coming to fix things but "coming to poke someone's eye out."

"In Likud, you don't advance by fixing things, but by managing to provoke the leftists," Bennett said.

Bennett criticizes government's conduct ahead of October 7 attacks

Bennett also criticized the government's conduct in the year leading up to the October 7 attacks, describing it as a "terrible year" marked by deepening political divisions.

He accused the government of prioritizing confrontation with its political opponents over implementing its policies, saying it "did not come to implement its values in a normal way, but instead woke up every morning thinking, 'How do I stick it to them? How do I trample those leftists? How do I humiliate them?'"

"This internal battle weakened and weakened the country's immune system," Bennett said, arguing that Israel's enemies had watched the growing internal divisions in the lead-up to the attack.

Bennet addresses haredi politics, enlistment

Bennett also addressed haredi (ultra-Orthodox) politics and military enlistment, calling the current situation amounted to "suicide in slow motion, broadcast live."

He held haredi political leadership responsible for the issues, saying, "They are not the ones to blame here; they are the victims. The ones to blame are the Zionist parties that are subservient to [Shas leader Arye] Deri and [United Torah Judaism leader Yitzhak] Goldknopf."