Former PM Bennett says Netanyahu ‘must go’
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said it is “too much” and “not healthy” that Netanyahu “has been in power for 20 years”.
“He bears … heavy responsibility for the divisions in Israeli society,” Bennett said in the interview that aired on Saturday about growing rifts within Israel under Netanyahu, who has a strong support base but also staunch opponents who have demanded his departure, including over his handling of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Netanyahu “must go”, said the former prime minister, a right-wing leader who in 2021 joined forces with Netanyahu critics to form a coalition that ousted him from the premiership after 12 consecutive years at the helm.
But the fragile coalition government Bennett led with current opposition chief Yair Lapid collapsed after about a year. Snap elections ensued, and Netanyahu again assumed the premiership with backing from far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.
Israeli lawmakers accuse Netanyahu of using Gaza to fight charges
Members of Israel’s Knesset have accused Netanyahu of using the ongoing war on Gaza to secure an end to his corruption trial. “[Netanyahu] is conditioning the future of Israel and our children on his trial,” Naama Lazimi, Knesset member for the Democrats Party, told The Times of Israel.
The Israeli premier showed he is unfit for the office by “trading his indictment in exchange for a political settlement and an end to the war”, she said.
Democrats lawmaker Gilad Kariv denounced the Israeli leader and his circle’s “willingness to play with the national security of the State of Israel and the issue of the hostages in order to save Netanyahu from conviction in court”.
Karine Elharrar, Knesset member from Yesh Atid party, warned that Netanyahu is “acting against the Israeli public interest” by linking his legal fate with captive negotiations and regional normalisation agreements.
Court delays Netanyahu’s testimony in corruption trial
The Times of Israel reports the Jerusalem District Court has postponed Netanyahu’s planned testimony in his corruption trial this week after the Israeli prime minister argued “diplomatic and national security issues” need his attention.
According to Reuters, the ruling said that new reasons provided by Netanyahu, the head of Israel’s spy agency Mossad and the military intelligence chief justified cancelling the hearings.
The decision comes a day after Trump lambasted the trial itself, calling it a “POLITICAL WITCH HUNT” that the US is “not going to stand for”.
