He retired from the Jewish House, was ejected from the Knesset and denounced by his friends on the right. • His career seemed complete - but Naftali Bennett returned from the political grave straight to the defense minister's office.

If the September election reached Naftali Bennet, shocked - after not passing the blocking percentage in the March elections - then this time his opening position could not be improved. He is seen as the responsible adult of the right, will serve as defense minister for six months and has already been praised for his functioning, especially in the right wing where his voter pool is located.

Bennett: "I asked the PM to assume the role of defense minister" // Photo: Moshe Ben Simhon

Bennett backed Netanyahu during the political crisis, so he did not clash with the political base. Equally important, the competing right-wing religious list, namely the Jewish Home-National Union, is fragmented and shattered, to the point of danger of failure.

Last year, his retirement from the Jewish home was seen by many in his camp as an escape from combat during wartime. Quite a few Dome wearers punished the New Right for the act or at the very least were called to save what was the traditional home of the religious voter, namely the Jewish Home Party. This time the situation is different. Bennett did not abandon anyone and did not harm anyone. He comes with his goods and whoever wants to buy.

An even more important front that will not bother Bennett in this round is Netanyahu. The previous two times, the prime minister has hit hard, directly or indirectly, in the new right - and so is he himself. This time, after paying painful prices, Netanyahu knows that firing inside the IDF is dangerous, no. For the first time since Bennett entered the political system, Bibi could not be expected to change his mandates.

Bennett and Shaked leave the Jewish home and start a new party // Photo: Moshe Ben Simhon

So Bennett, with his friend Matan Kahane, opens the election on the right foot. Eilat Shaked will be offered number two this time, while maintaining dignity but without a joint leadership of the party. She herself is debating whether to run for head of the Jewish House or run with Bennett again. Either way, the rest of the New Right list will be similar to what we've seen before.

What is not likely to be flawed. That is, only an extreme situation would make Bennett consider running with another party. However, on the face of it, the chances of this are slim. Already in the previous round, the joint package with Rabbi Rafi Peretz and Bezalel Smutrich barely held up. With all the precipitation, it's hard to see them again hugging each other. Even the bleeding Likud Bennett doesn't want to join. On the contrary, right-wing voters who are disgusted by the charges against Netanyahu can feel comfortable choosing "the new right." In the end, anyone who knows Bennett knows it's been his target audience ever since.

The condition of the traditional sectoral parties of the national religious public has never been worse. Even if they connect together, the Jewish home (once called the MFA), the national union and Jewish power of Itamar Ben Gvir, the three of them together barely manage to block the percentage according to the polls. Equally severe, such a union is not in sight at all.

"What are not expected to be friends" // Photo: Yossi Zeliger

Rabbi Rafi Peretz, the chairman of the Jewish House, or at least his people, managed to quarrel with too many parties in the political top of the Jewish House and the National Union. Even with MK Moti Yogev, who received Peretz with a red carpet at the time, the relationship took shape.

Peretz has so far rejected the efforts of Smutrich and others to initiate the unification of the two parties with no ideological difference. He is not ready to hear about a joint list with Ben Gvir. A joint run with Bennett also doesn't seem possible - in this case because of both sides (see above). Needless to say, all this happens to parties whose unity in Israel is of great value, but in any case, elections are not won.

"Peretz has so far rejected efforts to initiate unification of the two parties" // Photo: Oren Ben Hakun

Beyond the tragedy of the sinking of the national-religious party that was a partner in the establishment of the state, the failure of the Jewish-home-union-national-powerful-Jewish community endangers the entire right-wing bloc. Even so, no Netanyahu poll reaches 61 seats. So the loss of three or four seats due to conflicts in the knitwear could directly lead to the establishment of a leftist government.

It seems that only a bold act on the part of those in the two parties pushing for a union can give even a partial response to the plunder. Smutrich and Yogev have already begun operations. The question of whether they can convince the other players in the Jewish house to stop the race to the abyss.