Naftali Bennett: "We have an amazing nation, but institutional Israel needs to restart itself"
Naftali Bennett: "We have an amazing nation, but institutional Israel needs to restart itself"
The former prime minister addressed the state of the country since October 7 at the Israel Leader Capital Markets’ Israel Private Markets Summit, criticizing governmental dysfunction and spending in the nine months since October 7
Naftali Bennett.
(Credit: Orel Cohen)
“We have an amazing nation, but institutional Israel needs to restart itself - that’s the bottom line," said former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in conversation with Itay Elnatan, CEO and managing partner of Leader Private Capital, at Leader Capital Markets’ Israel Private Markets Summit at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Jaffa.
"On October 7th we encountered an epic failure of governmental Israel, of the intelligence operations and subsequent to, a total meltdown of our government services. We failed at our most fundamental mission which is to prevent Jews from being slaughtered in a pogrom."
He emphasized that the government subsequently failed in the months following October 7. "All of the gaps that the government left - basically everything - absorbing the evacuees, education systems, food, getting equipment to the soldiers was done by the people, bottom-up, which is amazing.”
On what changes he would propose to fund rising security expenses and the reconstruction of the South and North while still maintaining growth, Bennett replied that simply throwing cash without making thoughtful cuts was untenable. Indefinitely funding displaced residents "isn’t a sustainable model. We need to get them home. Throwing cash at a problem is a short-term solution,” he said.
“The defense budget needs to rise. I would caution ourselves that we need good leadership and a good strategy before throwing money there because the Israeli defense budget was by no stretch low [before],” Bennett said, adding that while there are inevitable expenses of war, major cuts are needed including political spending.
“Political money (distributing funds to coalition members) in regular times is a reasonable thing. but we aren’t in regular times. That’s a luxury that we can’t afford. When you don’t cut the coalition money, which everyone agrees is a luxury, you don’t have the moral standing to demand tough cuts.”
You can watch the entire interview in the video above.
