Naftali Bennett, who is (and what he will not do in economics) the new prime minister of Israel
Biography, comments and analysis on Naftali Bennett, leader of the right-wing Yamina party, the new prime minister in Israel
Yair Lapid, leader of the Israeli centrist party Yesh Atid, announced that he has formed a "rotating" government, which will initially be Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the right-wing Yamina party. Under the agreements, Lapid will replace Bennett in the role of premier in two years. The new coalition also includes Labor and the United Arab List. If the confidence of Parliament arrives, which will be convened as soon as possible, Benjamin Netanyahu's 12 years in power will end.
WHO IS BENNETT
But who is Bennett and what policy will he initiate at the head of the new Israeli government? 49-year-old Naftali Bennett, Yamina's millionaire leader, will be the premier of the 'change' government that sends Benjamin Netanyahu home after nearly 13 uninterrupted years in power. The modern face of the settler demands has reached an agreement with Yair Lapid for a rotating premiership at the head of an executive that includes centrist, left and right parties. "A result long cherished by the techno-settler, which combines radical statements with a past as a manager at the helm of a successful hi-tech company, which has allowed him to have a hold not only on the religious-nationalist electorate but also on the laity ", reads a sheet of 'Agi, the agency directed by Mario Sechi.
BENNETT'S BIOGRAPHY
In the past of the new premier there is the world of cyber-security, with an anti-fraud software company, Cyota, founded in 1999 and sold in 2005 for 145 million dollars; the following year he became chief of staff of Benjamin Netanyahu, at the time in the opposition. A few years later, after leaving the Likud leader (apparently following a hard fight with his powerful wife, Sara), he goes to the head of the Yesha Council, the body that represents the settlers' requests.
BENNETT'S POLITICAL CAREER
Former leader of the Jewish Focolare, who became Yamina in 2018, he was also at the helm of the Ministry of Education and Economy, before joining the Ministry of Defense, also under Netanyahu, of which he has long been considered the protegee. In the latest election campaign, earlier this year, he claimed his management training to 'heal' the Israeli economy in crisis due to the Covid epidemic, with a recipe focused on tax cuts and deregulation. In the middle there was a support for the annexation of part of the West Bank. In 2013 he argued that Palestinian terrorists should be "killed, not released"; he also stated that there was no occupation of the West Bank since "there has never been a Palestinian state here". More recently he urged to "put aside politics and issues like annexation or a Palestinian state, and focus on taking control of the coronavirus pandemic, healing the economy and repairing internal rifts". And again, he insisted that "the main thing we need today is entrepreneurship, energy and the management of national crises". Historic photo today that portrays him with Mansour Abbas, the Islamist leader of Ra'am, while they sign the agreement for the ruling coalition: the first time that a leader of the Arab minority actively participates in the formation of an executive together with the head of a Jewish nationalist formation.
THE ANALYSIS OF ISPI ON BENNETT
According to an ISPI focus, Bennett is the point of reference of the Israeli settler community and a staunch supporter of the hard line against the Palestinians: ideologically closer to Netanyahu than to Lapid, a former anchor of Israeli public television, an exponent of the centrist bourgeoisie. “In the past – reads the ISPI focus directed by Paolo Magri – he declared that the creation of a Palestinian state would be“ a suicide for Israel ”. Moreover, unlike King Bibi, he is not a charismatic leader who ignites the squares. But the Knesset parties prefer to work with him rather than with the former premier who, despite having won 30 seats in the last elections, cannot find allies for a coalition. The ISPI concludes: “There are many who bet on the fact that if it goes through, the next executive will focus on the economy and the pandemic, avoiding potentially divisive issues and above all maintaining the status quo towards the Palestinians. As Mossi Raz, an MP from Meretz, observed on Israeli public radio: “The proposed government will be able to do many good things. But I'm not sure if a peace agreement is one of them "".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/naftali-bennett-chi-e-e-che-cosa-non-fara-in-economia-il-nuovo-premier-disraele/ on Thu, 03 Jun 2021 08:25:42 +0000.