Naftali Bennett, the millionaire poised to be Israel’s next prime minister

In April 2019, Naftali Bennett received an unpleasant surprise. As the votes were counted in Israel’s general election, it became clear that his New Right party had not passed the 3.25 per cent electoral threshold needed to stay in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. Bennett had lost his seat, his new party had failed and his political career looked like it was over.

Two years, three more elections and a global pandemic later, Bennett is on the verge of ending Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year rule. Barring a spectacular reversal, he is about to become Israel’s prime minister. He has found himself in the right place at the right time, heading (though not necessarily leading) an eclectic coalition of parties from the left, right and centre. He will be forming a national-unity government with Yair Lapid, the leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party. Netanyahu was once Bennett’s mentor and patron; now he is about to be replaced by him.

Born in Haifa to American immigrant parents, Bennett, 49, grew up in an observant Jewish household. He wears a kippah, a Jewish skullcap, which stays on his bald head as if by magic (he uses stickers, reportedly). In its 73-year history, Israel has never had an observant Jew as prime minister.

Bennett was a member of an elite IDF Special Forces unit. In his time in the then-secret Maglan Reconnaissance Unit 212, he served behind enemy lines during the 1996 escalation between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon known as ‘Operation Grapes of Wrath’, hunting Hezbollah teams that were firing rockets into Israel. After his military service, Bennett went into tech and became a multimillionaire when his venture was acquired by a security company.

In a sense, then, Bennett represents the modern Israeli dream: launch a start-up after your military service, build it up and get a big ‘exit’ when the company is bought.