Is Naftali Bennett planning on a comeback? The Alternate Prime MInister, who is currently on a lengthy vacation in southern Italy after his tenure as Prime Minister concluded, was recently presented with an in-depth study and a series of polls that suggest that a party led by him would safely pass the electoral threshold, Channel 12 News reported on Friday.
According to the report, the data presented to Bennett shows that a party led by him would tip the scales and would take votes mainly from Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, but also from voters who are still undecided, the vast majority of them national religious.
Bennett's office would not comment on the report, but associates of the Alternate Prime Minister said that after a very significant year as Prime Minister, Bennett's intention was and still is to leave politics for a certain period.
In June, Bennett formally announced his intention not to run in the elections for the 25th Knesset, though he remains Alternate Prime Minister and in charge of the Iranian issue until the next government is sworn-in following the November 1 elections.
In an exit interview he gave to Channel 12 News about two months ago, Bennett said that he had not yet decided about his future.
"I would like to come back," he said at the time. "I think I was a Prime Minister who tried to do good for his people and his country. I think I succeeded and God the people of Israel will ultimately decide."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)