Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett addressed the security and political situation today, sharply criticizing the current government.
He stated, "There isn’t an Israeli who doesn’t want to bring all the hostages home and defeat Hamas."
Bennett added, "The current government has failed in the two goals it set for itself." He further said, "Because it places politics above the lives of its citizens, it has brought reservists to unprecedented exhaustion and turned most of the world against us. That’s why Israel is stuck."
Addressing how the government interacts with the public, Bennett said, "To conceal its failures, the government returns to its expertise of dividing the people and creating two camps: a camp supposedly in favor of the hostages but weak and supportive of glorifying Hamas, and a camp supposedly indifferent to the hostages but in favor of defeating Hamas. As long as the appearance of two opposing camps exists, the government is freed from accountability for its failures, which is why it constantly fuels the internal conflict."
He also emphasized, "The current government is an autoimmune disease, causing the state to fight itself. Only replacing it will bring the solution."
Bennett's comments come as the Hostages' Families Forum, anti-government, and anti-war groups held a "Day of Disruption" today, calling for a halt to daily life and the economy to pressure the government into securing the release of hostages and ending the ongoing war.
Demonstrations were held at around 400 locations across Israel, including outside the homes of ministers and Knesset members. Major roads were blocked, including Route 1 toward Jerusalem and the Ra’anana Junction. Hundreds of vehicles have also left from Latrun in a convoy in an attempt to stop the war.