Although a stubborn ruptured disc has kept Yamina leader Naftali Bennett in the hospital for a few days, he isn't stopping. Even before he was hospitalized, Bennett realized he was becoming a viable candidate for prime minister.
Not only the polls were showing him that public opinion had undergone a tectonic shift; so did the responses he was getting during hundreds of visits and tours since the start of the COVID crisis. The combination of a pandemic and a major domestic crisis propelled him from the leadership of a five-member opposition faction to a real leadership alternative, or at least the in-depth polls he himself is conducting would appear to indicate.
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At the end of the summer, when the "emergency government" formed to handle the COVID crisis was on the brink of disintegration, Bennett was still opposed to an early election. Now that everyone agrees that the government is not functioning, he not only thinks there will be an election – he is planning for one.
He still hasn't set up a campaign headquarters or chosen a name for a party, but he definitely has a work plan and knows how he wants to move forward. Bennett feels that the movement is so big that he is being pushed into a situation more than he is creating one. He is also preparing himself emotionally to shoulder the massive burden.
If there is an early election, Bennett, Ayelet Shaked, Bezalel Smotrich, and others will do everything they can to position themselves as an alternative to the Likud. They won't target Prime Minister Netanyahu's fans, who will vote for him no matter war. For the most part, they won't be talking about "yes or no on Bibi." For them, opening that conversation will hurt the message they want to send.
Instead, they will present a kind of Likud 2.0 – a team of people of action from across the national camp. Younger, less "political," and right-wing. A populist party, without stars, a lesson learned from the failed trial of the New Right, which was full of stars that fell to earth in the election. They want a party that will cause the large mass of voters in the national camp to hesitate about casting their ballots for the Likud.
Bennett will also avoid talking about Attorney-General Avichai Mendelblit and Netanyahu's trial, if he can. He won't change his mind that Netanyahu did something wrong, but understands that if he focuses on that in a campaign, Netanyahu will once again take over the message, overshadowing Bennett. Rather than allowing himself to be dragged into places that are comfortable for the prime minister, Bennett will do everything he can to deal with the issues he thinks are of most concern to the people: COVID, the economic crisis, the societal divides.
Bennett will be sending the message that leadership should serve the people, not itself. This is criticism that has repeatedly arisen from both polls and meetings, both toward the Likud and Netanyahu himself. Bennett will make the most out of this bitterness. In the next election, he will not be walking on eggshells – he will challenge Netanyahu's leadership. He will thank the long-time leader and offer disappointed Likud voters a new generation of national leadership.
Apart from politics, Bennett will roll out a 100-day plan – a move characteristic of parties that aspire to rule. For weeks he has been preparing the plan, working with a number of teams. To give himself a direction, and so the public will understand that he is here to work and not simply seeking the prime minister's seta, Bennett will present a series of proposals intended to make the COVID crisis an opportunity. We can assume that Bennett's "New Deal" will be the subject of much discussion.
Having learned from the last five elections in which Netanyahu pummeled him, Bennett is not deluding himself that it will be an easy fight. Who knows Bibi better than he does? Time will tell whether or not we will see another political upheaval.
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