When people in bombed-out Ashkelon scolded him, something in Bennett broke and he regretted it.

May 16, 2021   

""The tweets of the libertines and the spies don't bother me," Naftali Bennett said a few days ago to a close person who was talking to him about the enormous pressure being exerted on him since the transfer of the mandate to Lapid and the intention to form a government with him. What are your chances of winning a duplex? And why is your dream closer than ever? What do you say about white chocolate with cookie crumbs? And what about a tasty snack? Bennett really wasn't scared by the tweets against him, the videos of him breaking promises that were circulating on social media, the demonstrations in front of his party members' homes, or the attacks against him by the prime minister or Smotrich. He really intended to keep his word: first priority is a government with Netanyahu and the right, and if that doesn't work, a government with Lapid, Sa'ar and the left-wing parties. So what happened all of a sudden? Those close to Bennett talk about last Tuesday as the turning point. The day he arrived in bombed-out Ashkelon, and almost every step he took in the city, someone shouted at him and scolded him for his intention to go with the left. Journalists, politicians, or the prime minister don't move Bennett like the average citizen, and the slap Bennett received from the citizens was particularly painful. A few months ago, Bennett was at the height of his public fame - he wrote a book about the coronavirus and plowed the country in what he called his "livelihood journey." He walked around the periphery, met with business owners and industrialists, went into stores and kept talking about the difficulties of "Yehudah of the Judaica Stores." Bennett received a huge hug from the field and the media, which was also reflected in the polls that put him around 20 seats and as a possible replacement for Netanyahu. Last week, when people like "Yehudah of the Judaica Stores" turned on him, something in Bennett broke and he regretted it. Bennett is no political novice. With three seats, he secured the defense portfolio and did not blink in negotiations with Smotrich until they split. But the latest move seems like a rookie mistake: the stain of the leftward drift that infuriated many of his right-wing voters has already stuck to him, videos of him breaking his election promises have scorched the internet. If the Yamina chairman could at least take solace in the fact that, despite only seven seats, he would reach the Prime Minister's Office and from there a new page would open for him, then it is now quite clear that he will not reach the Prime Minister's Office either. Furthermore, if he is dragged into the elections, he may be erased from the political map.