It would be hard to say that the timing is perfect for Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to give an interview. The country is in the midst of a fifth, tough wave of COVID, even confirmed carriers don't know what strain they have; the new quarantine guidelines for schools is causing controversy and confusion between the staffs of the education and health ministries; and a plan to compensate businesses is also being met with confusion and bitterness. But the Prime Minister's Office has decided that perhaps because of all this, it's time to set the record straight.
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"I'm being interviewed at the peak of the pandemic, not when it's behind us, to tell the public that everything is under control. When we see the end, we need to protect the elderly and the children," Bennett tells Israel Hayom.
"Israel's management of the Delta and Omicron wave is almost the best in the world, based on a sane Israeli model that on one hand doesn't deny COVID – we already know it isn't the flu and causes a lot of damage. On the other hand, I'm not rushing to pull the trigger on the lockdowns that were a key tool here last year. The model is to keep the economy running amid Omicron. We are almost first in the world in the extent of testing, and it works. We were the first in the world to bring in the Pfizer drug," he says.
Q: We're also first in the world in new cases.
"And the first with the second booster, which is proving itself and saving lives. We have the strongest plan in the world to protect the elderly. That is the Israeli way – initiative, action, not sending everyone home, but keeping the economy operating."
Q: But there is a sense of denial. You once spoke of 'pincers' and a smart operation, and it looks like the government has thrown up its hands. There was a lot of time to prepare for this wave, like vaccinating kids in school.
"We prepared ahead of time and did a lot. My decision to close down air travel bought us three to four weeks in which we vaccinated 600,000 elderly [with a second booster], which prevented extensive loss of life. In that period, we acquired drugs and we built the antigen [testing] system, which didn't exist when I took office. For a year and a half, you couldn't buy antigen testing kits in stores. I opened the market and we brought in suppliers. Now the price for a test in stores is eight shekels ($2.50)."
Q: Still, these are costs the people have to shoulder. There are families that have needed dozens of tests in the past few weeks.
"We have just handed out three testing kits to each public school student, and we'll distribute 20 more under the new plan."
Q: But I asked you about early vaccination for kids. Most new cases aren't from the elderly, but from schools.
"I, as the government, can buy the vaccines and make them accessible. Ultimately, it's the responsibility of each person to get vaccinated. We aren't forcing the vaccines on people and each parent is making their own decision on the matter. At the end of the day, the parents are responsible for their children. To set a personal example, I took my son David to get vaccinated in the first couple of days. There is a need for the public to cooperate. The good news is that the public is demonstrating maturity and understanding that it is in partnership with the government."
'We won't fight the previous war'
Q: Are you at peace with the education minister's decision not to provide vaccinations at schools, even if the Education Ministry could have saved mass transmission?
"If I look to either side, at the countries that shut down schools or the countries where there is no problem, I think that [the situation] is being managed – and I take personal responsibility – according to a rational, very proactive, Israeli model. The guiding principle is good, and allows the country to keep running. We haven't declared a day of lockdown. We began the school year as scheduled, and I'm talking about a once-in-a-century pandemic. Compared to the rest of the world, we're OK. We are discussed as a model. I was the first world leader who informed the public about the Omicron variant and shut down air travel. The previous concept was to tell the public 'don't leave your homes, we'll give you money.' Now the concept is a lot of activity. In the past, I've spoken about a hammer vs. pincers. The hammer is a lockdown, and I don't think we need to go there. The pincer is testing.
"We've made a huge effort, but ultimately, when it comes to schools where a mobile vaccination station is set up and only 13 out of 400 [students] bring a permission slip for the vaccine, it's not necessarily a success. Nothing can replace parental responsibility. I'm calling on anyone who still hasn't gotten vaccinated to get vaccinated. We're also the first to know that the second booster works."
Q: It took a long time to decide on the new quarantine guidelines. It's strange, considering that there's a de facto lockdown. For a long time, parents aren't going to work and children have been at home.
"I'm not denying that there's a tsunami here. I said at the beginning that we'd be seeing 20,000 to 50,000 new cases a day. We were well prepared as a government. We are compensating parents for the loss [of work days]. We raised the payment for a lost work day from 430 shekels [$134] to 570 shekels [$178]. People who look at the situation with a rational, open mind say, 'Wow, the government is doing the right thing – neither hysteria nor irresponsibility.' For the kids, this is the right time to transition to the mass testing approach. Every kid in Israel will start getting tested twice a week. It's an exceptional tool to fight a pandemic."
Q: Is this how we beat a pandemic?
"A pandemic is defeated through a lot of initiative, a lot of flexibility. When you don't fight the previous war. You manage a pandemic looking ahead, not back."
Q: One of the disadvantages in being a public figure is that people always remind you of things you said in the past. More so, things you wrote. Do you regret your book [How to Defeat a Pandemic]?
"Not at all!" Bennett turns to the large bookshelf behind him glancing at the biographies and other books in a variety of languages and on a number of subjects, and asks his advisors, "Do we have a copy here?'
The Twitter nation is looking for reasons to joke about that book, which among other things branded Bennett as the man to handle COVID. Bennett is proud of what he wrote, saying, "Actually, everything I preached I'm practicing. I said, opt for testing rather than lockdowns. I said, 100,000 tests [a day], and people told me it was a dream. But we're actually at 400,000! I said, protect the elderly – and we're executing a plan to do so. When I took office everything was falling apart. I said we needed a tool for oversight, that we needed technology, and I set up dozens of sewage testing sites. I'm implementing those exact views," he says.
"Anyone who wants hysteria won't get it from us. I want a government without drama, one that gets up in the morning and gets down to work. In this government we do that, we've been doing that for seven months."
Seven months after it was formed, the discourse is still focused on Bennett's predecessor. In a series of media interviews, Bennett inserted a video about the new quarantine regulations that sniped at Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who is still a key motif in nearly every issue.
Q: Are you still right-wing?
"I'm right-wing, and my positions haven't changed. I still oppose a Palestinian state. A lot of people on the Right tell me quietly that this is a good government. We agree on 70% of the issues. We agree we need better education, and need to fight crime, and build more homes. I feel like this government is saving us.
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"At the same time, I'm saying to people on the Right: 'Look, the prime minister is a man of the Right.' I stood up to the president of the US who asked me about opening a consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem, and looked him straight in the eye and said, 'Mr. President, you're a true friend of Israel, but I can't answer because Israel has only one capital, Jerusalem, and it is the capital of only one country, Israel.' On the deepest subjects, things are very clear to me. The biggest is that this is a mixed government, but ultimately, that is the policy. In a historic meeting, we brought the entire coalition – Right and Left – to the Golan Heights and decided to double settlement there. It was an exciting move."
Q: You know, even people on the Left are in favor of keeping the Golan Heights.
"So why have we been stuck with only 25,000 Jews living there for decades?"
Q: Maybe because there aren't any jobs?
"Fine. We're working on it, because not too long from now, if we don't, the world will say that Syria has stabilized, let's give up the Golan Heights for the sake of peace."
Q: But when I try to count the achievements of the Right vs. the Left, I see that highway infrastructure development in Judea and Samaria has stopped; that a law has been passed to provide electricity to Bedouin; that Ayelet Shaked's citizenship law failed to pass; that tree-planted in the Negev has stopped; that settlement outposts are being demolished and there are hilltops in Judea and Samaria no one has touched for years.
"No, the opposite. For years, the government handed suitcases full of cash over to Hamas. When I took office, I stopped those transfers. The previous government canceled the Jerusalem Day flag march, and I reinstated it. I just don't make a fuss over every single thing. I told you about the consulate. We've also built in Judea and Samaria – my predecessor didn't build there under the Biden administration. Am I doing everything I want to do? No. When it comes to the tree plantings and the Bedouin, that same night people told me there had been threats and violence. There were a few who said not to plant the trees, and I said they should be planted the next day. There are laws, and they can bring in as many police as they need to – trees will be planted, and after that, I'm willing to talk with everyone.
"The Arab crime that exploded on us during Operation Guardian of the Walls is a matter that has been neglected for years. I set up a team of ministers under my leadership and we're making life miserable for criminal leaders in the Arab sector. Some have fled the country and we're using creative means to pursue them. I'm satisfied, but this is a unity government. It's true. This isn't a government of one side."
Q: You say there are no more suitcases of money for Hamas, but there was already money being deducted from Palestinian Authority [tax revenue], and Defense Minister Benny Gantz gave the PA a loan that will clearly never be paid back. Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej traveled to countries that donate to the PA and asked them to continue.
"This is a complicated government, because the guys on the Right were the ones who insisted on bringing us to a fifth election. They attached themselves to a person rather than to positions. It was a choice between putting the country into an endless spin, a rift, or dropping the ball on a number of issues. This led to a lag in military issues that I'm now closing. I made a decision. I've always invited our friends from the Bibi bloc to join us, but they need to decide which side their bread is buttered on. They made a wrong choice, days before the fifth election. I acted responsibly and I'm proud of it."
'There is a strategy to execute'
Q: When you look at the unity government and the status quo, it appears as if the Left is violating it and the Right respects it."
"The left-wing side says the same thing. So the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. For the first time, there are no talks with the Palestinians. Instead, we are handling the Golan Heights and Hamas. That didn't exist with Bibi. After seven months of an aggressive approach, I said that an explosives-laden balloon would be met with the same response as a rocket. We're hitting Hamas targets after ignoring them for years, starting with the first arson balloon. A new national camp has arisen that doesn't depend on one person, but is founded on a path. As prime minister, I'm leading that camp. It's a camp that isn't based on rejecting others, but on activity. I'm an activist. I'm saying to our religious Zionist friends, on the Right, there is a prime minister who is right-wing, who wears a kippa. I'm a person of faith and that's important, because I act according to my values."
Q: How?
"In dealing with international leaders, I stand up for our interests. When it comes to Jerusalem, when it comes to the Land of Israel, when it comes to Iran."
Q: What is happening with Iran?
"We inherited a horrible legacy, even before the government was founded. Iran has enriched [uranium] to 60% in facilities it didn't used to have, and gone further than it ever has. When I entered office, I saw the size of the hole we'd been left. We are investing billions in building up our military prowess. That bolsters my right-wing views in the sense that we only have ourselves to depend on. I appreciate our friendship with America, but we need to defend ourselves, and not only with words."
Q: What does that mean, practically speaking?
"I look at Iran as an ongoing battle. For decades, Iran has been an octopus whose tentacles are gripping Israel and Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, and Syria, and Israel has fallen into the trap and is bleeding, while Iran itself – the root of the evil – is safe and distant. We have a cold war by one side only – they hit us, and we don't hit them back. We're changing that equation. We're working every angle to weaken Iran … We'll keep taking action and we won't give up. It's no coincidence we stepped up the number of airstrikes in Syria, as well as the kind of strikes and quality of the targets. This is making things difficult for Iran."
Q: And when a new Iran nuclear deal is signed?
"The process toward a new deal in Vienna is very wrong. With or without a deal, we have a strategy to execute. Even if a new deal is signed, Israel won't be obligated to it. We aren't part of it, and Israel will retain full freedom of action in any situation. I'm implementing that daily and not only in words, but also in actions."
Q: Gantz has met with PA leader Mahmoud Abbas, Lapid with his predicted successor, and former IDF Chief Gadi Eizenkot is talking about entering politics and a vision for two states. Is it possible that new Oslo Accords are being formed right under your nose, to be implemented as soon as the rotation for prime minister takes place?
"As long as I'm prime minister, there is no Oslo process, and if there will be one, there won't be a government. I oppose a Palestinian state and am also not allowing talks on the line of a Palestinian state."
Q: The frequent meetings with Abbas and his successor aren't feelers for a new Oslo deal?
"I won't meet with anyone who persecutes IDF soldiers in the [International Criminal Court] in The Hague and sends money to murderers. My partners – Gantz and Lapid – hold different views. They represent the Left's positions, and that's legitimate as long as when it comes to action, we stay within the common ground we established."
Q: These meetings aren't actions?
"No. My predecessor also met with Abbas a number of times, and with Palestinian flags waving in the background. It's not the end of the world. I'm not judging my partners. I'm allowing it. They don't have the authority to move on diplomatic issues. They are talking about economics, and I'm in favor of strengthening trade with the Palestinians."
'Not looking for a quick win'
Q: A year ago one could hear the education minister talking about vaccines, the health minister talking about making decisions based on data, and the finance minister talking about the Haredim or the settlements and know what Naftali Bennett thought. Now the public has the sense that it is certain about the prime minister's ideology.
"My values and views haven't changed. I'm a Jewish Israeli, a right-wing patriot, and my parents raised me on these values. That hasn't changed. What has become significant is that as prime minister I see supreme importance in unity and connection. We need to calm down. We lost the first and second temples, we won't get another chance and we don't need to highlight differences and increase hatred."
Q: Do you think the people understand that?
"That's my mission. I'm not looking for a quick win. I come with a different compass – I don't owe anything to any lobbyist, only to God and the people of Israel, and I believe that ultimately, the public wants these considerations and this path. Ideologically, the distance between a Yamina member and a Likud member isn't large. There is no dispute about the Land of Israel. The dispute is about the path we take. Do we curse and scream at each other? An hour after a former Supreme Court chief justice dies, do we take the approach of [MK Bezalel] Smotrich and say nasty things? They took the name 'Religious Zionist,' but they don't have the rights to that path. I was raised in religious Zionism, and it includes people who want to connect both sides."
Q: Your family is paying a heavy price. Is it worth it?
"The price is heavy. Especially for the kids, who didn't choose this and don't like it at all. I always try to bring them in, explain what Dad is doing. Forming this government was the hardest thing I've done in my life, harder than any business or political move. I knew that a huge machine generating poison and hatred would be aimed at me and my children. Before the fifth election, I called my kids and Gilat, my wife, who are not involved, and told them I was going to do something. When I realized Bibi couldn't form another government and that we'd soon be having another election, I knew the country couldn't take it. Things were paralyzed and there wasn't even a budget for the IDF. I told my family – 'They'll say Dad is a traitor and call us names.'"
Q: Is your family counting down until Lapid takes over as prime minister?
"The kids are. But we're OK. Shabbat is the calm time, that's the stability and the normalcy, and in that sense, home is a real haven. My family is suffering, but I'm at peace with the move. I'm a man of faith and I have great confidence that I made the right move: we are an effective government, and that's the biggest privilege I could dream of – carrying the baton of leadership for the Jewish state. It's not something to take for granted.
"This time of the year 80 years ago, the Wannsee Conference took place, where the German systematically planed the genocide of the Jewish people. The lesson I take from that is that we need to fight for the country tooth and nail. So even if I have to pay a heavy price, it's a price I pay with understanding."
