Q&A: Undaunted leadership
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett talks with American Experiment’s John Hinderaker about why the Israel-Hamas war is one for Western civilization, the sentiment of the Israeli people, and how leadership in the Middle East and America is crucial to world peace.
Naftali Bennett was Israel’s 13th Prime Minister from 2021 to 2022. He has also served as Israel’s Minister of Economy, Minister of Education, and Minister of Defense, among other highlevel posts and positions in the Israel Defense Forces. Before entering public life, Bennett enjoyed a successful high-tech entrepreneur and executive career. Bennett was the keynote speaker at this year’s American Experiment Annual Dinner Gala.
John Hinderaker: Talk a little about your background. You served with some distinction in the Israel Defense Forces. What was your role?
Naftali Bennett: I served as a fighter in the Sayeret Matkal, which is Israel’s highest elite unit. Later, I served as a platoon commander and a company commander in another commando unit called Maglan. My main focus throughout the years was leading combat operations against Hezbollah deep behind enemy lines. That was sort of my expertise, and primarily in the 1990s. I finished my service — my basic service of six years — then I entered reserve service in which I fought in the Second Intifada in Operation Defensive Shield, I believe in Judean Samaria. Later, I commanded a commando force on a search and destroy mission during the Second Lebanon War. It was a very meaningful experience because in Israel, at a very young age, when I was 22 years old — and this is not uncommon — I found myself planning and leading complex combat operations and coordinating with artillery and air force and leading soldiers. I feel it was a privilege to be able to do these things at such a young age.
After your military service, you began a highly successful business career in America.
That’s right, though before I hit success, it was a very rocky road. I founded, together with three friends, a high-tech startup that sold large security systems to American banks. I operated from the United States for six years as CEO of the company until we finally sold it. It was a great opportunity to see all parts of America — from California and New York to Nebraska, Georgia, and Alabama. It was a wonderful experience. I was in New York on 9/11 and felt part of this nation that was going through such a huge crisis that we in Israel are familiar with. So, I very much respect and love the American people.
You had another successful startup back in Israel. Is that right?
Yes, but I was not the founder. I was brought in as a professional CEO and ran it for a while. Ultimately, it was sold, but then I pivoted into politics, which was a huge change. I don’t recommend it to anyone.
You were highly successful and, just a couple of years ago, served as prime minister of Israel as part of a coalition government. What did you take away from that experience?
Leading the state of Israel is different from any other nation because all other Western nations — such as the United Kingdom, France, and America — are not under an existential threat. As prime minister, the huge responsibility of ensuring the security and eternity of the state of Israel weighs heavily, and I took it very seriously. I also learned — what I believe is the right way in politics in 2024 — to create bipartisan partnerships.
I’m a right-wing guy. In America, I’d be considered a moderate Republican. But I’ve learned how to work with folks on the other side of the aisle to get things accomplished for my nation and for my people. My government is considered one of the most effective governments in the past generation, and even my detractors agree that it was a very effective government in terms of the economy. We drastically reduced the deficit, increased jobs, and increased security, among other things. I’m humbled to have had the privilege to shape and be part of the chain of leaders of the Israeli nation.
Regarding the war that is currently going on with Hamas and Gaza — a war obviously started by Hamas with the horrific massacres of October 7. Yet despite that fact, Israel has come under widespread criticism around the world for trying to defend itself. Why do you think that is?
Israel was attacked in a deliberate, horrendous terror attack, which included the burning of entire families, the rape of women, killing of babies — events that we all witnessed. We have a terror organization on our border. Imagine Al-Qaeda on America’s border post 9/11. We have no choice but to eliminate that terror organization because it’ll happen again.
We’re taking more precautions than any other nation in the history of urban warfare. There are about 15,000 terrorists that we killed and, unfortunately, 15,000 civilians that Hamas is hiding behind and deliberately sending into harm’s way. The way Israel is being judged by people all around the world is by our detractors.
Sometimes, it’s very tough to deal with. Some of it is simply holding Israel to a different standard, which in my lexicon, is antisemitism. People don’t want Israel to be able to fight back. Had we not cared about reducing civilian collateral damage, we could win the war in three days. We could just carpet bomb Gaza. But we didn’t do that and we’re fighting in a very cautious way. We’ve sent out millions of text messages, millions of pamphlets, which no one does before you attack a certain area. But we’re doing it. We moved over a million citizens away from harm’s way, and then we’re blamed for moving them by the International Court of Justice. So, whatever we do, we are criticized. That’s why we have to defeat Hamas. That’s the most resounding element of all of this. And then we take it from there.
Israel’s goal of this war is to destroy Hamas, just as in World War II, America’s goal was to destroy the Nazi state, which we did. Do you think that goal can be achieved?
Absolutely. I have been told Hamas is an ideology; it’s an idea, and you can’t kill an idea. I disagree. Nazism was an idea, and once the Nazis were defeated in totality, it was gone. And then you can begin the reconstruction of a positive Germany. The same goes here. If our hands are not tied behind our backs by us or our friends, we can do the job fairly quickly.
There has been talk about cutting back on aid to Israel, and Pres. Joe Biden has made various demands on your government. How big a problem has it been for Israel?
Our enemies — especially Hamas and Iran — see that we are being stopped by countries around the world and it encourages them and gives them hope. Israel never asked anyone to fight our wars. We never asked Americans to come over. We’re up for the job. In fact, we’re fighting the world’s war, the free world’s war against radical Islam. We are sending our boys into harm’s way. What 9/11 has taught us is that if we don’t eliminate the sources of terror in the Middle East, they’ll go to Paris, Madrid, and the streets of New York. We expect the free world certainly not to bother us and, if possible, to help us.
At the time when Hamas started this war, it seems that Hamas enjoyed very broad popular support in Gaza. Is that right?
Yes. Roughly two-thirds of Gazans support Hamas and the October 7 massacre. I wish this were not the case. I wish I could say it’s only one percent, but it’s about almost 70 percent. Hamas has been poisoning and brainwashing the minds and hearts of Gaza children from a very young age. By the time they grow up, all they know about Israelis and Jews is that we are a Satan and we need to be killed and murdered.
Once we defeat Hamas, we need to immediately stop this brain poisoning in schools, in Palestinian media, and in mosques, and we need the Palestinian Authority to stop providing money for murder. It can change. I don’t believe that when a baby is born, the baby is evil; I believe the baby and, later on, the child and the adult, are educated to hate.
The culture that has developed in Gaza is one of hatred for Jews and for Israel, and the United Nations has played a dishonorable role. What do you think is the future of the United Nations in Gaza?
The United Nations Agency in Gaza — UNRWA — is a horrible organization. They invited Hamas terrorists to be part of the organization. We know of endless events where UNRWA employees participated in the massacre under UNRWA facilities; they’re hiding terror bases. It has to be closed and we need a new agency that will work to actually solve the problem. UNRWA not only facilitates terror, it also wants to perpetuate the Palestinian refugee problem.
Observers in the U.S. would say the Biden administration is meddling in Israeli politics by trying to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. What’s the reaction to that among Israelis?
Every country needs to define its own destiny and choose its own leaders, and I think we should keep it that way. It’s no secret that in Israel, there’s a massive debate and divide regarding how Israel should be led. That’s legitimate; that’s what democracies are about, but ultimately, it’s Israel and Israeli citizens who will define our future.
Israel certainly can defeat Hamas — do you think the Israeli people have the will to see this war through to a conclusion, a successful victory, and destroy Hamas?
That depends on having the right leadership. Leadership in war ought to be very candid with the people to not overstate things and needs to unite the nation. That’s the leadership we need in Israel, one that will unite everyone behind these objectives. I can tell you that the soldiers and the reserves, who are paying the highest price — and their families — are determined to follow this through. I hope the political leadership doesn’t let us down. In war, if you want to win, you can’t let up.
What do you think the post-war landscape looks like?
The parameters are fairly simple. From Israel’s point of view, there are only two goals. One is Israel’s security, and the second is we don’t want to govern Gaza. We have no desire to govern Gaza. Given these two guidelines, what we need to do is put together an interim technocratic governance of competent Palestinians, Egyptians, and, from the Emirates and Saudis, put together a technocratic appointed government to begin the first phase of reconstructing the civilian infrastructure and ending the incitement. Then, we can explore other directions for the foreseeable future. While we don’t want to govern them from a civilian standpoint, we do need to retain overall defense and security responsibility for Gaza until we feel comfortable otherwise.
The U.S. State Department and various political factions in the United States have long wanted to bring about what they call the “two-state solution” for the Middle East. Where do you think that stands today?
It’s totally divorced from reality on the ground. Israelis supported the idea of a Palestinian state back 30 years ago during the Oslo Accords. We tried it once in Judean Samaria, and it backfired, and we got the Second Intifada and 1,600 Israelis murdered. Then we tried it again in Gaza and what we got was 18 years of hell and tens of thousands of rockets from the very place that we provided them to build their own future.
Israelis don’t want to hear about a Palestinian state, certainly not in the foreseeable future. I have four children; my oldest son is joining the elite commando unit in three months. We’re the ones paying the price. We know what’s right for us, and this would be a huge mistake and mainstream Israelis on the left and right oppose that for now.
There is another front in this war in the northern part of Israel with Hezbollah firing rockets. What’s the status there?
All of that is from Iran. I coined a doctrine several years back called the Iranian Octopus of Terror. So we have an octopus of terror whose head is in Tehran standing with its tentacles all across the Middle East into Lebanon with Hezbollah into Gaza, with Hamas and Islamic Jihad into Yemen, and into Iraq and Syria. What these arms do is inflict terror and chaos wherever they can and are trying to hit Israel. It would be a mistake for us to fight individually each of those tentacles because that’s exactly what Iran wants us to do. What I suggested as a new doctrine is that we should focus our national security energy on the Iranian regime. It’s a rotten, incompetent, radical regime despised by Iranians, and it’s causing most of the problems in the Middle East, including Hezbollah. I believe that just as the Soviet Union was an empire of terror, which was rotting, so is Iran; it’s destined to fall, and the Iranian people will be free again.
There was a news story stating that the Biden administration was urging our Western European allies not to take various actions against Iran. Are you seeing that kind of hesitancy from our government?
I never criticize another government. I’ll just say that it’s in the interest of the United States — if we want to reduce global terror, if we want to reduce the threat on the U.S. and Israel and our allies — there are actions that we can take that will dramatically help. And it’s primarily choking Iran’s regime of funds. That way, their ability to conduct terror will degrade dramatically, and that’s what we need to be doing.
It’s believed that Iran is close to having nuclear weapons. Does that change the calculation dramatically, or is that more irrelevant if the approach is mostly economic?
It’s all the more reason to accelerate the toppling of Iran. We want to topple the Iranian regime before they acquire nuclear weapons. They have acquired a great deal of highly enriched uranium, enough for eight to 10 nuclear weapons. However, they’ve not gone through the entire weaponization process, but I would call them a threshold state. We don’t want them to go nuclear like North Korea, so the time to act is now.
What role do you see yourself playing politically in Israel’s future?
I’ll be at the place where I can help my nation the most. I finished serving as prime minister. I was going to take 10 years off of politics, but little did I know that within a year and a half, our country would be under so many disasters, and beyond my family, the most important thing for me is to serve my nation.