Naftali Bennett is an Israeli politician and the country’s 13th prime minister.
The son of American immigrants, Bennett grew up in Haifa. He and his wife Gilat live in Ra’anana with their four children.
After his IDF service in the Maglan Commando Brigade and the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, Bennett ventured into software entrepreneurship, heading various companies that sold out for over $100 million.
He surfaced on the scene of Israeli politics in 2006 as chief of staff for Benjamin Netanyahu.
After leading both the Jewish Home and Yamina parties and serving in various ministerial positions, Bennett was sworn in on June 13, 2021 as Israel's 13th prime minister in a rotation government with Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid.
Under the rotation government, Bennett would serve as prime minister until 2023, and Lapid would assume the role until 2025.
Israel needs new leadership – recycling the leaders who have already tried and failed is not the solution.
Netanyahu's Likud party is stabilizing, while his coalition partners see a drop in mandates. Where do parties stand should elections be called?
TIME Magazine published a follow-up report disputing statements made by the prime minister in his exclusive interview earlier this month.
Israeli voters prefer Prime Minister Netanyahu to opposition leader and Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid.
If Naftali Bennett were to form a new party, it would receive 21 mandates in the elections and become the largest party.
With sharp criticism, Bennett provides practical alternatives to Israel's short and long-term strategy.
"The leadership has put its interests ahead of the State of Israel - it must be replaced," Bennett said.
Although most estimates suggest that the coalition's position has stabilized recently, the likelihood of toppling the government and calling early elections has not been entirely ruled out.
Bennett compared Israel to the “wave breaker in the middle of a big wave of radical Jihadi terror, that in a sense is defending the west from this wave.”
The purpose of a "rotation government" is to create a "two-headed" government, with a prime minister and "alternate prime minister" who switch midway through their tenure.
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