Naftali Bennett Announces Retirement From Politics, Paving Way for Netanyahu's Return to Power

Israeli Prime Minister announced his retirement from politics, saying that he will not be running in the upcoming elections, paving the way for former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's return to power.

Bennett's announcement comes as the Israeli Knesset is set to vote on calling an early election in the country. Once an election has been called, the prime minister will be replaced by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid but Bennett will stay on as the alternate prime minister until the elections are concluded.

Retirement From Politics

However, it is unlikely that the vote on calling an election, which is expected to be held on Wednesday, will take place before midnight local time. This means that Lapid will not become prime minister of Israel until midnight Thursday at the earliest.

In recent days, Bennett had been giving mixed signals about his political intentions and was facing pressure from many of his supporters to stay in the race with his current party Yamina. On Wednesday, the prime minister said that he was planning to continue assisting Lapid as much as he needed, adding that he only cared about what was good for the country, as per Axios.

Bennett's move could potentially ease the return to power of long-serving leader Netanyahu, who was ousted from office last year. The prime minister's announcement comes just over a week after he told the public that he could no longer hold together his fragile coalition. His remarks were followed by the country going to the polls for the fifth time in less than a year.

Following Bennett's announcement on Wednesday, a poll showed that Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party gained at least 15 seats more than its closest rival and gained enough support from other right-wing factions and those loyal to the former leader to form a government with a small majority.

According to Fox News, Bennett said in a brief televised statement that he did not intend to compete in the coming elections but will remain a loyal soldier in the service of this country. The prime minister added that the state of Israel was the love of his life.

Naftali Bennett

Bennett entered into office a year ago heading a broad government coalition that was made up of eight parties spanning the political spectrum and including, for the first time, an Arab-Israeli party. But ultimately, it was the clash of ideologies that brought Bennett's coalition to an end last week.

Lapid, who will take over for Bennett, is a former journalist and media personality and stands apart from other Israeli prime ministers. This is because he does not have a strong military background and did not graduate from high school. Unlike other prime ministers, he served as a correspondent for an army magazine during his compulsory military service.

Following Bennett's announcement, he made a speech where he listed the accomplishments of his government. He said that it had restored quiet and security to the south, got hundreds of thousands of people back to work, fought against two waves of COVID-19 outbreaks without implementing lockdowns, and many others, the Times of Israel reported.