Netanyahu
Netanyahuצילום: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

A senior settlement leader excoriated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday, while giving his backing for an alternative government formed by Yamina chief Naftali Bennett with the support of left-wing lawmakers.

Yisrael Harel, one of the founders of the Yesha Council umbrella group representing Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria, who also served as the first chairman of the Council, ripped Netanyahu Tuesday morning, saying the prime minister “is no right-winger”, and expressed hope that the Left would be more honest than Netanyahu.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is not really a right-winger, and it would be better if he would be removed from his position as Prime Minister,” Harel told Kan.

“For his entire premiership, Netanyahu has proved that he always moves to the center, and sometimes even to the Left,” Harel continued, citing Netanyahu’s 2009 Bar Ilan speech in which he endorsed the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Harel expressed optimism that Bennett will replace Netanyahu as premier, endorsing the Yamina chairman over the incumbent.