Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett has been out of office for more than three years, but polls suggest he may again soon shape Israel’s political destiny.
A theoretical party led by Bennett is consistently ranked second only to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, and in some surveys, it even surpasses it. Remarkably, he has achieved this by saying little and doing less. Simply by virtue of his potential return, Bennett has become a central force in the political conversation.
Still, Bennett’s comeback is not without baggage. His short-lived premiership collapsed under the weight of internal contradictions, leaving him distrusted by both Right and Left.
Many on the Right accuse him of betrayal for partnering with Yair Lapid and an Arab party; many on the Left never believed his ideological shift was genuine.
A proven political force
He has also made a career of overperforming in polls and underperforming on election day, raising doubts about whether his current numbers would translate into real power. In this sense, Bennett is as much a projection of what Israelis want – a pragmatic, competent, post-Netanyahu right-wing figure – as he is a proven political force.
Yet even that projection is influential. Without building a party, offering a platform, or unveiling a team, Bennett has already shifted the political map, forcing Netanyahu to shore up his coalition and reminding rivals of the nation’s appetite for alternatives. His reemergence reflects the volatility of post-October 7 politics and highlights that in Israel’s current moment, even the possibility of an alternative can be enough to reshape the landscape.