# Naftali Bennett (נפתלי בנט)
**Naftali Bennett** (נפתלי בנט; born 1972 in Haifa) is an Israeli politician, technology entrepreneur, and former military officer who served as the 13th prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 until 1 July 2022.[1](https://main.knesset.gov.il/About/Lexicon/pages/benet.aspx) He led an eight-party coalition, including parties of the center, the left, and an Arab party, and handed office to [Yair Lapid](https://www.edgepedia.org/yair-lapid) under a rotation agreement when the coalition collapsed in June 2022.[2](https://snl.no/Naftali_Bennett) • [3](https://www.cnn.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-fast-facts)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1972, Haifa; law degree from the Hebrew University[1](https://main.knesset.gov.il/About/Lexicon/pages/benet.aspx) |
| Military service | Sayeret Matkal and Maglan, elite commando units operating behind enemy lines[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532) |
| Business career | Co-founded the anti-fraud software firm Cyota in 1999, about 400 employees, sold to RSA Security for $145 million in 2005; later CEO of Soluto, sold for about $100 million[5](https://www.knesset.tv/knesset-members/naftali-bennett/) |
| Parties | Jewish Home (leader from November 2012), New Right (founded 2018), Yamina[5](https://www.knesset.tv/knesset-members/naftali-bennett/) • [6](https://main.knesset.gov.il/RU/About/Lexicon/pages/451498610103256.aspx) |
| Ministerial posts | Economy, Religious Services, and Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs (2013); Education (2015–2019); Defense (2019–2020)[3](https://www.cnn.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-fast-facts) |
| Premiership | Sworn in 13 June 2021 after a 60–59 confidence vote; ended Netanyahu's more than 12 consecutive years in office; handed over to Lapid on 1 July 2022[3](https://www.cnn.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-fast-facts) |
| Signature legislation | First Israeli budget since 2018 (November 2021); legislation investing more than $9 billion in Arab communities[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532) |
## Early life, military service and business career
Bennett was born in Haifa in 1972 and took a law degree at the Hebrew University.[1](https://main.knesset.gov.il/About/Lexicon/pages/benet.aspx) In the 1990s he served in [Sayeret Matkal](https://www.edgepedia.org/sayeret-matkal) and Maglan, elite commando units that operate behind enemy lines.[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532)
**Technology career.** In 1999 he co-founded Cyota (סאיוטה), an internet and anti-fraud security software company, and moved to New York with the venture.[5](https://www.knesset.tv/knesset-members/naftali-bennett/) • [7](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-right-wing-millionaire-who-may-end-netanyahu-era-2021-05-30/) The company employed about 400 workers, and in 2005 it was sold to the American security firm RSA for $145 million, after which Bennett returned to Israel.[5](https://www.knesset.tv/knesset-members/naftali-bennett/) • [4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532) He later served as chief executive of Soluto, a software company sold for about $100 million.[5](https://www.knesset.tv/knesset-members/naftali-bennett/) Reuters described him as a right-wing millionaire.[7](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-right-wing-millionaire-who-may-end-netanyahu-era-2021-05-30/)
## Entry into politics: Netanyahu's office, Yesha Council and party leadership
Bennett's political career began in 2006, when [Benjamin Netanyahu](https://www.edgepedia.org/benjamin-netanyahu), then leader of the opposition, hired him as chief of staff; he served in that role from 2006 to 2008.[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532) • [3](https://www.cnn.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-fast-facts) From January 2010 to January 2012 he was director of the Yesha Council, the organization representing Jewish settlements in the [West Bank](https://www.edgepedia.org/west-bank) and their populations, and led the campaign against the settlement construction freeze that ended in September 2010.[3](https://www.cnn.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-fast-facts) • [4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532)
In November 2012 he was elected head of the Jewish Home (הבית היהודי), the religious-Zionist party founded from the National Union and the new Mafdal.[5](https://www.knesset.tv/knesset-members/naftali-bennett/) • [1](https://main.knesset.gov.il/About/Lexicon/pages/benet.aspx) In the 2013 election he led the party to 12 Knesset seats, a result Britannica describes as a historic achievement that made it the fourth-largest faction, just behind Labour's 15.[5](https://www.knesset.tv/knesset-members/naftali-bennett/) • [4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532) He entered the Knesset in 2013 and served as a member of the 19th, 20th, and 22nd through 24th Knessets.[8](https://apnews.com/article/naftali-bennett-israel-middle-east-religion-technology-20678c93611da0fee71fbccac80759d5) • [1](https://main.knesset.gov.il/About/Lexicon/pages/benet.aspx)
**New Right and Yamina.** Ahead of the April 2019 election Bennett formed the [New Right](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-right) (הימין החדש), which failed to win seats; he reentered the Knesset later that year on the Yamina list.[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532) The Knesset's Russian-language lexicon lists his party memberships across his career as Bayit Yehudi, Yamin Hadash (New Right), and Yamina.[6](https://main.knesset.gov.il/RU/About/Lexicon/pages/451498610103256.aspx)
## Ministerial roles (2013–2020)
After the 2013 election Bennett held the Economy, Religious Services, and Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs portfolios in Netanyahu-led governments from March 2013.[3](https://www.cnn.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-fast-facts) In the 2015 election Jewish Home won eight mandates, and Bennett became education minister in the 34th government.[5](https://www.knesset.tv/knesset-members/naftali-bennett/) As education minister he implemented the "small classroom" reform and added 4,600 aides for children aged 3 to 4 in kindergartens.[5](https://www.knesset.tv/knesset-members/naftali-bennett/) He served as defense minister in 2019–2020, a period in which he publicly backed West Bank annexation and settlement building, saying, "The building momentum in the country must not be stopped, even for a second."[7](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-right-wing-millionaire-who-may-end-netanyahu-era-2021-05-30/)
## Prime Minister (2021–2022)
After long coalition negotiations, Bennett was sworn in as Israel's 13th prime minister on 13 June 2021, after winning a confidence vote of 60 to 59.[5](https://www.knesset.tv/knesset-members/naftali-bennett/) • [3](https://www.cnn.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-fast-facts) The vote ended Netanyahu's record-long twelve years in power.[2](https://snl.no/Naftali_Bennett) The coalition agreed on 2 June 2021 spanned eight parties, including parties of the center, the left, and an Arab party, with Bennett, whose Yamina held only a handful of seats, as prime minister for two years and Lapid, the alternate prime minister, scheduled to take over in August 2023.[2](https://snl.no/Naftali_Bennett) • [3](https://www.cnn.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-fast-facts) AP noted that Bennett would be severely constrained by the unwieldy coalition, which held only a narrow parliamentary majority.[8](https://apnews.com/article/naftali-bennett-israel-middle-east-religion-technology-20678c93611da0fee71fbccac80759d5)
**Legislative record.** In November 2021 the government passed Israel's first budget since 2018, a hurdle Britannica describes as indicating the coalition's ability to cooperate, and pushed through legislation investing more than $9 billion in Arab communities.[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532)
**Collapse.** In June 2022 the government failed to muster enough votes to renew the emergency regulation (1967 law applying Israeli rule to West Bank) dating to the [Six-Day War](https://www.edgepedia.org/six-day-war) of 1967; right-wing members withdrew, and the coalition collapsed.[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532) On 20 June 2022 Bennett and Lapid announced their intent to dissolve the 24th Knesset.[5](https://www.knesset.tv/knesset-members/naftali-bennett/) On 29 June Bennett announced he would not run for reelection, and the Knesset dissolved itself the next day; on 1 July 2022 Lapid became caretaker prime minister under the rotation agreement, with Bennett continuing as alternate prime minister, religious affairs minister, and settlement minister until the 37th government was formed.[3](https://www.cnn.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-fast-facts) • [5](https://www.knesset.tv/knesset-members/naftali-bennett/)
## Political positions
Bennett opposes Palestinian independence and strongly supports Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.[8](https://apnews.com/article/naftali-bennett-israel-middle-east-religion-technology-20678c93611da0fee71fbccac80759d5) As a Jewish Home leader he promoted the Stability Initiative, which proposed annexing Area C of the West Bank and rejected a two-state solution.[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532) In economic policy he has taken liberal positions, including tax cuts, less state involvement in the private sector, and greater room for private companies and market forces.[2](https://snl.no/Naftali_Bennett) • [7](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-right-wing-millionaire-who-may-end-netanyahu-era-2021-05-30/) Reuters reports that he is comparatively liberal on issues such as gay rights and the relationship between religion and state relative to the religious right.[7](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-right-wing-millionaire-who-may-end-netanyahu-era-2021-05-30/)
## Bennett's premiership in comparative perspective
Bennett's tenure lasted about thirteen months, from 13 June 2021 to 1 July 2022.[1](https://main.knesset.gov.il/About/Lexicon/pages/benet.aspx) Britannica calls the 2021 government a historic unity government spanning left- and right-wing parties plus a party representing some Palestinian citizens of Israel.[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532) Its concrete output included the first budget since 2018 and legislation investing more than $9 billion in Arab communities; its collapse followed the failure to renew an emergency regulation concerning West Bank settlements.[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532) The November 2022 snap election that followed returned Netanyahu's Likud-led bloc with a majority of 65 of 120 Knesset seats, with Lapid's centrists taking 24.[9](https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/naftali-bennett/)
## What has changed since 2023
Bennett left politics after the 2022 handover but returned in the aftermath of Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.[2](https://snl.no/Naftali_Bennett) Writing in *The Economist*, he described Hamas as "just one tentacle spreading from a Tehran-based octopus of terrorism."[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532) Polls in August and September 2024 showed him as a front-runner for the position of prime minister.[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532) On 1 April 2025 he announced that he had registered a new political party under the name "Bennett 2026" ahead of Israel's next election.[3](https://www.cnn.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-fast-facts)
Store norske leksikon reports that in spring 2026 Bennett established a new party, Beyachad ("Together"), together with Yair Lapid, with Bennett as party leader.[2](https://snl.no/Naftali_Bennett)
## References
1. [בנט, נפתלי – Knesset Lexicon (official, Hebrew)](https://main.knesset.gov.il/About/Lexicon/pages/benet.aspx)
2. [Naftali Bennett – Store norske leksikon](https://snl.no/Naftali_Bennett)
3. [Naftali Bennett Fast Facts – CNN](https://www.cnn.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-fast-facts)
4. [Naftali Bennett – Britannica (Scholars)](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Naftali-Bennett/633532)
5. [נפתלי בנט – ערוץ כנסת (Knesset Channel)](https://www.knesset.tv/knesset-members/naftali-bennett/)
6. [Нафтали Беннет – Knesset Lexicon (Russian edition)](https://main.knesset.gov.il/RU/About/Lexicon/pages/451498610103256.aspx)
7. [Naftali Bennett: The right-wing millionaire who may end Netanyahu era – Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/naftali-bennett-right-wing-millionaire-who-may-end-netanyahu-era-2021-05-30/)
8. [EXPLAINER: Who is Naftali Bennett, Israel's new leader? – AP News](https://apnews.com/article/naftali-bennett-israel-middle-east-religion-technology-20678c93611da0fee71fbccac80759d5)
9. [Bennett, Naftali – Treccani Enciclopedia](https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/naftali-bennett/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Government and public administration › Prime ministers, cabinets, and ministries › Heads of government of the Middle East*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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