The Political Decline Of Naftali Bennett

The stirring speech by the chairman of HaBayit HaYehudi, Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett, succeeded in convincing only some of the participants at the large, right-wing conference on Oct. 2. Upon leaving the hall at the National Convention Center in Jerusalem, Bennett was assailed by a group of young people chanting “Traitor!” and “You’re disgusting! What about the Land of Israel?” It was a very disappointing moment for someone who had just stood on stage a few moments earlier and noted what he had said about the settlements in an interview with Al Jazeera: “A nation cannot be a conqueror in its own land.”

At the “One State for One People” conference, Bennett reiterated one motif throughout his speech: The Jewish people have a right to the Land of Israel. The event was intended to apply pressure to the government to put a stop to negotiations with the Palestinians. This contrarian message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who decided to renew the peace process, caused Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz and Minister of Agriculture Yair Shamir, both from Likud-Beiteinu, to withdraw from the conference at the last minute, despite promises to attend.

Unlike them, Bennett not only showed up, but he also delivered a speech. But the final images of him being rushed outside the building to the crowd’s jeers exposed the tense relations between Bennett and the deeply ideological right-wing element among the settlers, who regard his sitting in a government that released Palestinian prisoners as a sin, if not an act of treason.

Over the past few months, voices of disappointment and resentment toward Bennett have also been increasing among other groups in the religious Zionist community, even though it anointed him its leader and helped his party win 12 seats in January elections. One of these groups, the hard core of the National Religious Party, has already marked him as someone who has failed to deliver to their sector.