Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke to New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, commenting on the management of Israel's war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza, and what he would do differently.
Bennett criticized Israel's management of the war, saying, "I see words that send one message and actions that are the contrary."
He also told the Times columnist that, "All the senior leadership of Israel, political and military, needs to be replaced."
In Bennett's opinion, Israel needs to "knock out" Hamas: "If you’re in a boxing ring ... you zero in" and give your opponent another punch to knock him down, he explained. But if Israel will not do that, then the other option is to prioritize the hostages and "fight another day."
Though Israel has killed a large number of Hamas terrorists, the terror group's supply of potential replacements is as large as the Gaza population.
Bennett explained, "When you count bodies, you are assuming a finite number of combatants. But you have a population of one million to draw on. They could have recruited another 10,000 in the meantime."
And, if Israel does not want to be the target of Iran's nuclear weapons, either directly or through the Hezbollah terror group, then the only option is to topple Iran before it acquires a nuclear weapons.
Bennett explained that Iran, "the head of the octupus," is "much more vulnerable and feeble" than its proxies. Therefore, in his opinion, it is "foolish" to engage in war with the proxies instead of with Iran itself.
He also stressed that Iran has "huge vulnerabilities," concentrated in a few areas and which can be taken out relatively easily.
"They should be afraid right now and not the 10 million Israelis," he concluded.