Naftali Bennett

**Naftali Bennett**, Hebrew: נפתלי בנט , (born 25 March 1972 in Haifa) is an Israeli politician of HaYamin HeHadash ("New Right") and the Yamina alliance. He was the 13th Prime Minister of Israel from 2021 to 2022. Previously he belonged to HaBayit HaYehudi ("The Jewish Home").

## Military and business career

He performed his military service in an IDF special forces combat unit, in which he saw action in several operations. (He is a reservist with the rank of major). Afterwards he studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Before entering into politics, he worked in software, which has made him very wealthy. He was the CEO of software companies Cyota and Soluto.

## Political career

Bennett has been a member of Knesset since 2013. He was Minister of the Economy and Minister of Religious Services in the third Netanyahu government, from 2013 to 2015. Since 2013 he has been Minister of Diaspora Affairs and since 2015 also Minister of Education, both in the fourth Netanyahu government.

As the Education minister, he wants more content about Judaism in Israeli schools. This affects the secular public school system as well as religious public schools. Furthermore, he is absolutely against the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

### Prime Minister

After the 2021 Israel-Palestine crisis, Bennett announced that he agreed to a deal with Yair Lapid to forge a coalition government that would remove Benjamin Netanyahu from his Prime Minister position. This was after the 2021 March election. Mid June he has become Prime Minister, leading the Bennett-Lapid Government, which is the 36th government of Israel. In March 2022, he helped Russia and Ukraine communicate after the war broke out.

On 20 June 2022, Bennett announced that he will call for a vote to dissolve the Knesset and step down as prime minister shortly after its dissolution, to be replaced by Lapid. On June 29, he announced that he would not seek re-election to the chamber in the next legislative election.

## Personal life

Naftali is an observer of Modern Orthodox Judaism. Until his election into the Knesset, he was also a citizen of the United States due to his parents being US citizens who emigrated to Israel.

## Related pages

- Bennett-Lapid Government

## Other websites

- Bio at Knesset Website

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **native name lang**: he
- **image**: Naftali Bennett official portrait.jpg
- **alt**: Bennett seated with his arms resting on a table
- **caption**: Official portrait, 2021
- **order1**: 13th
- **office1**: Prime Minister of Israel
- **1namedata1**: Yair Lapid
- **term start1**: 13 June 2021
- **term end1**: 30 June 2022
- **predecessor1**: Benjamin Netanyahu
- **successor1**: Yair Lapid
- **order2**: 3rd
- **office2**: Alternate Prime Minister of Israel
- **term start2**: 1 July 2022
- **term end2**: 8 November 2022
- **primeminister2**: Yair Lapid
- **predecessor2**: Yair Lapid
- **office3**: Ministerial roles
- **subterm3**: 2013–2015
- **suboffice3**: Ministry of Economy (Israel), Minister of Economy
- **subterm5**: 2013–2019
- **suboffice5**: Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, Minister of Diaspora Affairs
- **subterm6**: 2015–2019
- **suboffice6**: Ministry of Education (Israel), Minister of Education
- **subterm7**: 2019–2020
- **suboffice7**: Ministry of Defense (Israel), Minister of Defense
- **subterm8**: 2021–2022
- **suboffice8**: Minister of Community Affairs
- **office9**: Faction represented in the Knesset
- **subterm9**: 2013–2018
- **suboffice9**: The Jewish Home
- **subterm10**: 2018–2019
- **suboffice10**: New Right (Israel), New Right
- **subterm11**: 2019
- **suboffice11**: Yamina
- **subterm12**: 2019–2020
- **suboffice12**: New Right (Israel), New Right
- **subterm13**: 2020–2022
- **suboffice13**: Yamina
- **birth place**: Haifa, Israel
- **party**: New Right (Israel), New Right (2018–present)
- **children**: 4
- **residence**: Ra'anana, Israel
- **alma mater**: Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Bachelor of Laws, LLB)
- **branch**: Israel Defense Forces
- **serviceyears**: 1990–1996
- **rank**: _Israel Defense Forces ranks, Rav seren_ (Major)
- **name**: Naftali Bennett