The right-wing chairman faces an opportunity that may not return • In the next election, Bennett will no longer run amok against Netanyahu - but will challenge his leadership • In the planning: a young list composed of right-wing activists instead of "stars" And keeping a distance from Netanyahu's files
Although a stubborn herniated disc imprisoned him in the hospital for several days, right-wing chairman MK Naftali Bennett did not rest.
Even before he was hospitalized, Bennett realized he was becoming a viable prime ministerial candidate.
Photo: Knesset Spokeswoman
Not only have the polls taught him that a tectonic movement is taking place in public opinion, but also the reactions he has received in a hundred field trips he has conducted since the outbreak of the corona crisis.
A combination of a global epidemic and an acute internal crisis has propelled him from the leadership of an opposition faction of five MKs in the Knesset - to a governmental alternative, so at least consistent polls show that he himself is conducting.
At the end of the summer, when the "emergency government to deal with the corona crisis" was on the verge of dissolution, Bennett further opposed early elections.
Now that everyone agrees that the government is not functioning, he not only thinks there will be elections but is also preparing for them.
It is not yet a matter of setting up a headquarters or choosing a name for the party, but there is definitely an action plan and directions for progress.
Bennett felt that the intensity of the movements was so great that he was pushed into the situation rather than producing it.
Also mentally, he prepares himself for the possibility that the heaviest burden will be placed on his shoulders.
If there are elections - Bennett, Shaked, Smutrich and Kahana will do everything to provide an alternative to the Likud.
They will not target Netanyahu's personal fans, who will vote for him anyway.
In general, they will try not to talk about "yes Bibi, no Bibi".
For them, entering such a discourse will hurt the message they want to convey.
Instead, they will present a Likud in a new version.
A team of activists from across the spectrum of the national camp, younger, less enterprising, and right-wing.
A popular party without stars - a lesson from the affair of the new right that was full of stars and as I recall crashed in the election - one that will arouse in the large mass of voters of the national camp, a real dilemma again to choose a disease.
Bendelbit and Netanyahu's trial will also prevent Bennett from speaking as much as he can.
He did not change his mind that Netanyahu was wronged, but understands that if the next election deals with this, then Netanyahu will once again control the message - and he, Bennett, will be swallowed up.
Therefore, instead of being dragged into plots that are convenient for the prime minister, Bennett will do everything in his power to address issues that in his opinion are troubling the people.
The corona, the economic crisis, the divisions of the people.
It will convey the message that leadership should serve the people and not itself.
This is the criticism that has recurred in both meetings and polls, both towards the Likud and towards Netanyahu.
The sourness of this lemon, Bennett will squeeze to the end.
In the next election, Bennett will no longer run amok against Netanyahu, but will challenge his leadership.
He will say thank you to the veteran leader and offer the disappointed among the Likud voters a national leadership of a new generation.
Photo: Yehuda Schlesinger
Beyond politics, Bennett will also present a 100-day plan - the move that characterizes aspiring parties.
He has been formulating the plan with a number of work teams for weeks.
In order for him to have his own compass, and also for the public to understand that he is coming to work and not just looking for the prime minister, Bennett will present a long line of proposals, titled to turn the corona into an opportunity.
It can be estimated that Bennett's "New Deal" will be a very talked about program.
Lear learned from five election campaigns in which Netanyahu hit him hard, Bennett does not delude himself that the battle will be easy.
After all, who like him knows Bibi?
But after "treating tens of thousands in the hospital," as he calls it - problems he has been dragging since serving in the General Staff patrol - he will go into battle. Days will tell if this will end in a historic upheaval.
