Chairman of the right breathes air of peaks - so far only in polls • Until the election, he prepares the ground: "The right will no longer be a niche party" • The full interview - tomorrow
Highly tuned.
Naftali Bennett
Photo:
Eric Sultan
In the midst of all the controversy and controversy in Israel, on the eve of the High Holidays, a delicate consensus seems to be maturing here between right and left: Naftali Bennett, right-wing chairman, emerges as a possible prime minister after Netanyahu - many years after many struggled to mark an alternative.
"It's made of prime minister's material," they say of someone who nearly evaporated from the political system last year.
A time that seems like an eternity today.
Carried on the aura of the victory of the first wave of the Corona as defense minister, and in the face of public disappointment at the government's failure to manage the second wave, Bennett's shares as an ardent oppositionist rise, and with them the seats in the polls.
He turns out to be pragmatic, thorough, knowledgeable and cool-headed.
And yes, also cruel at times, Killer.
You are registered for the great adventure in 2019, which led Israel to three election campaigns.
"There are ideas that their time should come to fruition, and the time of the new party has matured. She says a real oil is not characterized by hatred of the left, but by what it promotes."
Wait, do I hear a new party?
"Unequivocally the right opens. It ceases to be a niche party, it appeals to the entire national public - secular, ultra-Orthodox, religious. It ceases to be a sectoral party. The right changes its face. I do not see myself as representing any sectoral group. I was the defense minister of all The Israeli public. "
Are you an iPhone 12 and Bibi an iPhone 11?
"Maybe an iPhone 12 versus Nokia," Bennett stings and laughs.
"The current leadership is tired. I think Netanyahu has contributed a lot over the years to the State of Israel, for decades, but there is fatigue, lack of focus, managerial failure and leadership of the government - the largest in the country's history. During the Corona period, I came to my family and said goodbye. "And I worked around the clock to get the country out of this blessing."
Was not supportive. The signing ceremony of the peace agreements with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates // Photo: GPO
Netanyahu did not wake up?
"Definitely not. He's not focused on the Corona. He deals with a lot of other things. That's not how close management looks. At the moment, the prime minister should be the corona's projector. When he compares Israel to the world, he always chooses the countries with the worst numbers. I want to be "The best country. Instead we are a leper country, we are the reddest country in the world. I am ashamed of it."
At least politically, Bennett has a positive tone about what is going on with the emirates.
Positive reluctant.
"I welcome these agreements, but I would like to see in advance the details of the agreement. It has been published, and I have not heard a denial, that they have relinquished sovereignty for years to come."
If there is such a concession, will you vote against the peace agreement?
"If you ask me sovereignty in the Land of Israel or Bahrain - then sovereignty in the Land of Israel. Because sovereignty is for generations and agreements come and go."
The bill of Bennett's party colleague, MK Smutrich, to establish a commission of inquiry to examine conflicts of interest for the ombudsman, the state attorney and judges - was rejected yesterday.
Bennett gives these things of Smutrich a quiet backlash.
"My way is to change the method of appointing judges, eliminate the cause of reasonableness, and reduce the right to stand. These are things you do not shout out loud. I am not in favor of destroying the Supreme Court, but in favor of correcting it. I am in favor of restoring the balance lost with the beginning of the Aharon Barak era. "Thoroughly and not with screams and not around a personal issue."
The full interview will be published tomorrow in "Israel Hashavua"