Yamina Chairman Naftali Bennett announced this evening (Wednesday) his candidacy for Prime Minister of Israel.
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In a special statement from the Knesset building, Bennett said: "Citizens of Israel, when my people suffer, I cannot stand by. This is why I left the high-tech world that I loved so much and entered the public sphere.".
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He added: "After I fought in the Second Lebanon War, and saw before my eyes my comrades being injured and even falling because of the failures of the political echelon, I swore to myself that when my people were again in crisis, this time - I would be in a position where I could have an impact. And so it was. In Operation Protective Edge, I did not rest until the IDF destroyed the 30 terror tunnels, from which Hamas was about to launch mass attacks, and thus the lives of the residents of the south were saved.".
Bennett spoke about the handling of the Corona crisis. "This year we found ourselves in a devastating crisis. The things we took for granted - health, freedom of movement, our children's education, the right to earn a living with dignity - were taken from us. As Minister of Defense, this time too, I did everything in my power to protect you, your health and your livelihood. From the moment the pandemic appeared, I put everything aside and threw myself into the battle, 24 hours a day, weekdays and weekends.
""I convened the Chief of Staff and the top security officials and told them: Gentlemen, we are at war. Every hour we act early, we will save more deaths, we will prevent more bankruptcies and unemployment. IDF commanders and soldiers mobilized with all their might. Yes, when they want to, the government also knows how to function. Within 96 hours, we established corona hotels in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, among the first in the world - we operated at the pace of a startup. In the face of the officials' resistance, we insisted and brought in high-tech companies to conduct tens of thousands of tests, so that we would need fewer closures. We brought in paratroopers to help the residents of Bnei Brak and Deir al-Assad.".
Bennett told how Netanyahu avoided cooperating with him. "It was a beautiful hour for Israel. The citizens of Israel saw that the state was functioning well, and for their sake. Then, unfortunately, small interests began to put sticks in the wheels. At the end of March, at the height of the first wave, I submitted to Prime Minister Netanyahu a national action plan to fight the coronavirus, without paralyzing the economy. The goal of the plan was to control the coronavirus through a mass of tests, investigations and technologies, so that we would not have to impose closures all the time. A closure is the easy solution, the solution for the lazy, but it is destructive. Unfortunately, Netanyahu chose to shelve the plan, and his motives with him. And so we rolled into the concept of endless closures.".
He said, "Those who paid the price of failure are good people like Avraham, a 70-year-old man who owns a small gift shop in the central region, whom I met a few days ago. The shop is Avraham's and his wife's only source of income. Avraham told me in tears that after long months of struggle, all his life savings were wiped out. He gave up and closed the business. From now on, he will be a burden on his children, who are also struggling financially. It didn't have to be this way. Avraham, who paid taxes all the years he and his children served in the IDF, was robbed by thirty-six unnecessary ministers in a failed government.
""I ask the ministers and the head of the government: In a once-in-a-century crisis, couldn't you rise above your own interests for a moment and work for us? This wonderful people deserve more.
""In the past year, I have met you, the citizens of Israel, on my livelihood journey across the country. I have seen wonderful people, medical teams working around the clock, teachers who turn the world upside down to stay in touch with their students. I have seen people who love the country and are willing to sacrifice for it. I have seen people who are hurting because they discovered that there is no one to talk to up there, that there is no leadership.".
Bennett stated: "The time has come for change. Netanyahu is full of rights; but at the moment of truth, when we needed him most, he simply wasn't there. We must thank him for his years of service, but we must move on. This is also not the time for more parties that arose only to say "who is not" instead of charting a path of "what is". Israel needs new leadership.".
""Therefore, tonight, I stand here before you and announce that I am running for the position of Prime Minister of Israel, to finally bring about change. So that Israel will have leadership that sees the citizens and not itself. To bring back the great Israeli spirit, of creativity and faith, the same spirit that brought a dispersed people back home, after 2,000 years of exile.".
""The government we form will be mission-oriented: it will focus on controlling the coronavirus, restoring livelihoods, and uniting the people. I will invite to the government all parties that are in favor of a Jewish and democratic State of Israel, who are willing to put aside their differences for a moment, in order to pull Israel out of the mud.".
The Likud party responded by rejecting the speech of Yamina Chairman Naftali Bennett:
""While Bennett is giving a confused and troublesome speech on television, Prime Minister Netanyahu is leading the Corona Cabinet to the world's fastest vaccination campaign and determined closures, which will bring Israel out of the Corona pandemic first in the world.".
""All of Bennett's proposals failed in the world, including in Europe, which collapsed into lockdowns with countless more deaths than Israel. Only Prime Minister Netanyahu's management brought Israel to first place in the world in vaccines, acted decisively and quickly to stop the mutation, and placed us in one of the best places in the world in morbidity and mortality.".
