Former prime minister Naftali Bennett warned that Israel’s status in the United States “has never been so bad” and that it is being seen as a “leper state” in a lengthy social media post on Tuesday.
The post castigating the current government’s public diplomacy efforts came after Bennett, who plans to run in next year’s elections, spent 10 days in the US. It follows a raft of polls and other indicators showing decreasing support for Israel and its war against Hamas in Gaza, among both major American political parties.
“The Democratic party hasn’t been with us for some time. We’re also losing the Republican party, whose support for Israel could once be counted on,” he wrote, though he credited US President Donald Trump with retaining support for Israel within his administration.
“Even those who have been our friends are having a hard time defending the State of Israel,” Bennett continued. “Israel is being seen more and more as a liability and burden on the USA and Americans.”
Bennett said the current government, of which he is a longtime critic, is to blame for the situation. He accused it of a disorganized and self-destructive approach to making Israel’s case around the world, and wrote that the government is doing “terrible damage” and “still does not understand the magnitude of the disaster.”
Some of those responsible for such efforts had “received a salary from Qatar,” he added. Earlier this year, two of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides were arrested on suspicion of having committed multiple offenses tied to their alleged work for a pro-Qatar lobbying firm, all while also working for the prime minister. Qatar is a funder of Hamas, and the terror group’s leaders live there.
Naftali Bennett (R) and Bezalel Smotrich of the right-wing Yamina party hold a press conference in Jerusalem on May 14, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Bennett also took aim at two of his former allies, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in addition to Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and MK Nissim Vaturi, who have all drawn backlash for their statements about the war.
Eliyahu said Israel is “racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out.” Smotrich said most of the enclave would be “totally destroyed,” and that it is an “inseparable” part of Israel. Chikli drew attention recently for calling British pundit Piers Morgan antisemitic. Vaturi has called to “burn Gaza.”
He said the four lawmakers “babble on and cause us unimaginable damage with devastating quotes that will haunt our soldiers in passport lines in countries around the world.
“Do you really think that what you say in interviews in Israel isn’t being heard abroad?! Don’t you care that you will lead to the prosecution of our soldiers?” Bennett wrote. “If Netanyahu’s propaganda people were working against Israel’s external enemies with a tenth of the talent, speed, and dedication with which they operate the propaganda machine against their political opponents inside Israel, our situation would be incredible.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and former prime minister Naftali Bennett (right) attend the funeral of
Rabbi Haim Drukman, at Merkaz Shapira, near Kiryat Malachi, on December 26, 2022. (Gil Cohen-Magen/ AFP)
Bennett, a former right-wing ally of Netanyahu, broke with him in 2021 and briefly unseated him, serving as prime minister for about a year. Ahead of elections scheduled for next year, he has registered a political party under the name Bennett 2026, and polls show that it would compete with Netanyahu’s Likud to be the largest in the Knesset.
Bennett wrote that the accusation that Israel is causing starvation in Gaza has gained wide purchase in the United States. A range of human rights groups have said there is deepening hunger and malnutrition in the enclave. Israel has denied that there is widespread starvation, but recently increased the flow of aid to Gaza in response to international pressure.
“The ‘starvation’ campaign in Gaza has grown to enormous proportions, and in fact, for most of the American public and various influencers, it is almost a fact,” he wrote.
The rise in anti-Israel sentiment, he added, has led to a spike in antisemitism in the US. Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack that began the war in Gaza, US Jewish groups and law enforcement agencies have documented a significant increase in antisemitic incidents.
“American Jews are subject to a foul wave of antisemitism, the likes of which I can’t remember in the days of my life,” Bennett wrote. “For years, I’ve felt that there isn’t really a mass of antisemitism in the USA. Now there is.”
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