Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has warned that Israel faces a serious threat to its future under the current government, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of political failures and calling for a change in leadership.
Speaking at an election conference organized by Yedioth Ahronoth and Ynet on Monday, Bennett described Israel’s current political and social trajectory as a “slow-motion suicide mission,” warning that continued divisions could undermine the state’s long-term viability.
Bennett focused particularly on the controversy surrounding military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews and government funding for institutions serving the community.
He argued that exempting large sections of the ultra-Orthodox population from military service, while providing public funding to their institutions, placed an increasingly unequal burden on other Israelis.
Bennett also criticized low employment participation among sections of the ultra-Orthodox community, arguing that the existing arrangements were economically and socially unsustainable.
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He warned that if the current policies continued for another four years, “there won’t be a state.”
Bennett called for an end to Netanyahu’s tenure, holding the prime minister largely responsible for the country’s political and institutional problems and arguing that a change of government was necessary to address them.
He also raised allegations involving Netanyahu’s advisers and their reported connections to Qatar, singling out the prime minister’s adviser Yonatan Urich.
Bennett said information emerging from the affair raised serious questions about loyalty and foreign influence during the war.
He characterised the alleged conduct of individuals within Netanyahu’s inner circle as potentially among the “gravest instances of treason in Israel’s history” and called for security measures against anyone found to have been involved.
The allegations remain subject to investigation, and Bennett’s remarks do not establish criminal wrongdoing.
Former Israeli Defence Minister and Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz also warned about Israel’s political situation and called for a change of government.
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