Naftali Bennett
Former prime minister; heads the Together list with Yair Lapid
Naftali Bennett gets a C+
Score: 78 out of 100, the average of 7 measures. Graded on what Bennett has said and done, because we count recorded votes only for the US Congress. Every line is below, with its source.
- AIran: the regimeWith liberty, 2 sources
- AIran: the peopleWith liberty, 2 sources
- FAlliesBoth ways, 2 sources
- AMilitaryWith liberty, 1 source
- FIslamizationBoth ways, 2 sources
- ASecularismWith liberty, 1 source
- FCapitalismBoth ways, 2 sources
Bennett, on the record
12 things Bennett has said and done. Each one has its source, and each is marked with the same test we use for votes in Congress. A line that does not settle the question is marked as not clear and counts for nothing.
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From the opposition he backed the June 2025 strikes on Iran, calling them self-defence carried out at the last possible moment.
“I've long advocated for striking the head - and now it's finally happening”
- By the test we use for votes
- With liberty
Backing military action against the regime's nuclear programme counts as with liberty.
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After the United States reached a deal with Iran, he said the regime should be attacked directly and not only through its proxies, and that its collapse should be hastened.
“For many years, I've been a proponent of what I called the octopus doctrine - that means attacking the head, not just Iran's tentacles.”
- By the test we use for votes
- With liberty
Calling for direct action against the Islamic Republic is pressure on the regime.
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During the June 2025 war he published a video message to Iranians saying Israel's fight was with the regime, not with them, and calling on them to rise up.
“Israel is not at war with the Iranian people. We're at war with the regime, with the nuclear program. We respect the Iranian people.”
- By the test we use for votes
- With liberty
Addressing Iranians as allies against their rulers counts as with liberty.
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In the same interview he urged Western countries to help Iranian protesters, for instance by keeping their communications working during unrest.
- By the test we use for votes
- With liberty
Asking for practical help to protesters is acting for Iranians against their rulers.
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As prime minister in the first weeks of Russia's invasion he declined to send weapons to Ukraine and flew to Moscow to meet Putin as a go-between, a role Zelensky had asked Israel to take.
- By the test we use for votes
- Against liberty
Withholding arms from Ukraine and standing between Kyiv and Moscow is neutrality in that war.
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Writing against President Biden's pause on arms for the Rafah operation, he called Biden a friend of Israel and said a halt signals a gap between the United States and its ally.
“A halt sends a message of daylight btwn US and its ally Israel. Bad here and everywhere.”
- By the test we use for votes
- With liberty
Arguing that nothing should come between the United States and Israel is backing that alliance.
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He said a government he leads would draft every young Haredi man, with no exemptions, because the army is short of soldiers.
“In the next government under my leadership, we will enlist everyone, without exemptions and without backroom deals”
- By the test we use for votes
- With liberty
Conscription without exemptions supplies the manpower the armed forces depend on.
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The government he formed and led in 2021 depended on the votes of Ra'am, the party of the southern Islamic Movement, which joined his coalition.
- By the test we use for votes
- Against liberty
Building a government on a partnership with the Islamic Movement's party is working with such an organisation.
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He said that as prime minister he would declare Qatar an enemy state, calling it the main financier of Hamas.
“In the next government, I will declare Qatar an enemy state”
- By the test we use for votes
- With liberty
Treating the state that funds Hamas as an enemy is acting against Hamas and its backers.
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He said he supports public transport on the Sabbath in cities that choose it and the right of every couple, same-sex couples included, to marry in Israel.
“I support marriage for anyone who wants it. My compass on this issue is common sense and fairness.”
- By the test we use for votes
- With liberty
Marriage outside religious control and Sabbath transport end religious control over public life.
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His party's cost-of-living plan calls for removing regulations that restrict competition, gradually ending tariffs and breaking up monopolies in food retail and imports.
- By the test we use for votes
- With liberty
Ending tariffs and removing rules that block competition are free trade and less regulation.
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The same plan promises farmers fixed state grants and state-guaranteed loans before the market is opened to competition.
- By the test we use for votes
- Against liberty
New subsidies and state-backed loans for one industry are more state spending.
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Naftali Bennett
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