In the last elections, when the Likud Party started losing seats to HaBayit HaYehudi, headed by Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s people began a focused campaign to halt the trend. What they planned to do was to expose the real face of the extreme right-wing party, perceived by a significant chunk of the public as a fresh young movement with a tech-savvy leader, drawing voters from the “soft right” and center.

The campaign featured the most extreme faces of the party such as Orit Strock, one of the leaders of the Jewish settlement in Hebron. In response, Bennett highlighted names that appealed to the consensus, like former Israel Defense Forces officers Yoni Chetboun and Mordhay “Moti” Yogev, a former brigade commander in the Judea and Samaria Division and an educator who focused intensively on social and economic issues.

When it came time for Israeli citizens to go to the voting booths, it became apparent that Netanyahu’s efforts had failed. Bennett was one of the success stories of the elections, carried by the wave of social protest. He befriended Yair Lapid, chairman of Yesh Atid, and joined forces with him all the way to the Netanyahu government. Today, HaBayit HaYehudi is one of the most rigidly ideological parties in the history of the Knesset, so much so that within it, Bennett is considered a moderate. To better understand the mood of the party in which he operates, it's necessary to hear what his Knesset members have to say. 

The interview with Knesset member Moti Yogev, a resident of the settlement of Dolev in the Benjamin Regional Council, took place on the afternoon of Jan. 29, just a few hours before Bennett apologized for attacking Netanyahu. It provides a better understanding of how HaBayit HaYehudi regards its role in the government. From his perspective, the members of the party are Netanyahu’s watchdogs facing the Americans, whose policy Yogev describes as "anti-Semitic." According to him, President Shimon Peres “has entered the delusional stage” and should step down. Their need to protect Netanyahu is what prevents them from quitting his coalition easily.