Naftali Bennett: Stop US Aid, Slash Israel’s Military Budget
Latest update: January 10th, 2013
print
tell a friend
Naftali Bennett has been a zealous defender of Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, a position that, as I mentioned earlier, has made him many enemies, including his old boss, Netanyahu. I posed to him the idea that the reason the prime minister has been talking about the two-state solution has nothing to do with his commitment to Jewish settlements and everything to do with his acute concern with Iran’s nuclear program.
Simply put, Netanyahu is not going to allow a few thousand settlers to cause Israel to lose favor with the current White House, so that when the time comes to attack the Iranian nuclear plants, Israel would not be standing alone.
“If the time comes to choose between American support and some acquiescence in the area of removing some settlements – what would be your choice?”
“I don’t buy this question,” Bennett responds quickly. “I reject the equation that we have to give up parts of Israel in order to buy quiet. If we follow that path, in twenty years we’ll have nothing left in Israel. It’s not a logical course of action.”
“We need to do what’s necessary for a strong Israel,” he urges. “I assert that handing over more land to our enemies would make Israel a feeble and miserable place. It would bring home the bloodshed and strife between us and the Arabs, just like what’s going on in Gaza—a never ending war—while we have peace and quiet today in Judea and Samaria.”
He promises: “I’ll do everything in my power to reverse the mistaken policies of establishing a Palestinian state within the Land of Israel.”
Finally, is he a career politician, or is he just planning to do this for a few years and do other things in the future?
“As long as I can serve my country, I’ll continue doing it,” he says. “As long as I feel that I’m making a positive impact on the Jewish nation, I’ll do everything in my ability to contribute.”
What’s his vision for the Jewish Home party?
“In the upcoming elections, we want to be the biggest partner for Netanyahu in his next government. It’s a very interesting election, because the next prime minister has already been determined, it’s going to be Netanyahu. The question remains, is it going to be a left-wing coalition of Tzipi Livni, Amir Peretz and Amram Mitzna and Netanyahu – or Jewish Home and Netanyahu. That’s the biggest question in this election, and I’m determined to become the biggest and most influential coalition partner.”
tell a friendAbout the Author: JewishPress.com Senior Internet Editor Yori Yanover has been a working journalist since age 17, before he enlisted and worked for Ba'Machane Nachal. Since then he has worked for Israel Shelanu, the US supplement of Yedioth, JCN18.com, USAJewish.com, Lubavitch News Service, Arutz 7 (as DJ on the high seas), and the Grand Street News. He has published two fun books: The Cabalist's Daughter: A Novel of Practical Messianic Redemption, and How Would God REALLY Vote.
You might also be interested in:
You must log in to post a comment.
No Responses to “Naftali Bennett: Stop US Aid, Slash Israel’s Military Budget”
1
Loading ...
typo to fix: brothers.
Hi Winky. It has been a long time. Hope you and the family are all well. I will be in Israel at the end of this week, Fran (Holliswood neighbor)
Hi Winky. It has been a long time. Hope you and the family are all well. I will be in Israel at the end of this week, Fran (Holliswood neighbor)
I am perplexed. If Naftali Bennett is seeking the annexation of the West Bank, and increased Israeli settlement, is that not going to increase American aid and Israel's military budget.
Bennett seems like a real schmuck.
People who make $500 million in the private sector are not schmuks. How much have you earned? How many jobs have you created? How much have you given to charity?
A person's wealth does not make him politically smart. He may be a good business man, but his views on politics are idiotic. George Soros is wealthy, too, but he's done horrible things in his life like helping the Nazis, so wealth doesn't mean anything to me. What matters to me is emotional intelligence and heroics like those who resisted the Nazis. My grandfather didn't make a lot of money but he worked hard and taught me a lot. That's a man I respect. My real heroes are the people that fight for the Jewish state, who are bravely in the IDF who've sacrificed for their country. Not how much money you make.
I'll concede that George Soros has appalling views and does a lot of damage with his money. Naftali Bennett does have an amateur-streak (and I am not happy about his comments on continuing IDF service exemptions for yeshiva students) but one of Israel's problems is its constant recycling of its political "talent." I hope he has a successful political career and a short one. I don't want to see him recycled like Barak, Bibi, Peres, Livni, Deri, (probably Olmert in the next election) and others I'm sure I'm missing.
I understand, but his views believing that Obama has Israel's back and that he believes that Obama's position on IRan is incredibly naive. So who cares how much money he makes, his positions on foreign policy regarding is dangerously idiotic. We need new talent but surely we can do better than Bennett.
@ Andrew Schiff – well Bennett does and has done that too- as a soldier and then commander in the most elite unit of the IDF. Thats 2 for 2 Andrew with a few RBI to boot.
Back to my original point, which is the fact that he is politically naive. All his accomplishments are fine but his opinion is not dealing with reality. Ok, so he was a great soldier, not every soldier is a good leader. His opinions on Obama. I appreciate your baseball reference but you did read my initial comments about his political beliefs.
I get the feeling when reading his comments regarding Obama that they were merely "nice talk" and that he didn't truly trust him. I hope that is the case because Obama and his choices for cabinet members is showing clearly his plans to use these people to further alienate Israel and then blame it on his cabinet. He has an evil agenda for America and Israel and I pray people wake up before it is too late. Unfortunately for us it appears Obama has more people fooled than any other official in our history.
Melissa, you are very smart!
Israel badly needs the economic reforms Bennett describes. There are so many vestiges of Labor Socialism which are holding the country back. Everyone likes to brag about what an "economic miracle" Israel is but Singapore has a smaller population, no land, no natural resources but still has a higher GDP than Israel… which means the average Singaporean has a higher per capita income than the average Israeli. Another example to follow would be Switzerland- a nation of comparable size to Israel has nearly 3X the GDP. How did they do this?- by embracing the market system. I maintain Israel is underperforming economically. When you're using Egypt or Syria or Jordan or Lebanon as a point of comparison then of course Israel looks prosperous! If you want Israel to be stronger, then an extra $50-100 billion added to its GDP would go much farther than US aid or an ineffective bombing campaign on Iran. Tapping into Israel's considerable oil reserves would be a good place to start.
Correction, Singapore has a smaller GDP. In 2011, it was $239 billion for Singapore and $242 billion for Israel.
Aside from that, you're right. Israel has the potential to be a true economic powerhouse. Two things are about to spike Israel's GDP dramatically: The increasing participation of Arabs and Haredim in the workforce, and the discovery of the gas fields.
If you strip away the socialism, and take into account Israel's rapidly-growing population (which will likely surpass 10 million during this decade), then Israel's GDP will skyrocket. And as the country's population grows, you could even see it enter the trillion-dollar club (if Australia with a population of 20 million can have a trillion-dollar GDP, whose to say a resource-rich Israel with, say, 15 million can't do the same?).
Itt is refreshing to read Naftali Bennett's position. It is congruent with Otsma Israel.His idea on US money(which is mostly spent in USA} should be studied.
Israelis had better pray to God that Mr. Bennett doesn't become Prime Minister someday. Obama is NOT watching Israeli's back. Only a naive fool believes that.
Israelis had better pray to God that Mr. Bennett doesn't become Prime Minister someday. Obama is NOT watching Israeli's back. Only a naive fool believes that.
Bennett is another right winger waiting to turn leftist as soon as he's elected. Bennett left Yesha after supporting Livni instead of Bibi; so, expect him to turn to the other side after the election. Power to Israel seems to be the only honest party running in this election.