Bennett, Lapid unveil election blueprint to overhaul Israel’s security and diplomacy

Naftali Bennett unveiled a security doctrine ahead of the election, arguing that the October 7 massacre exposed a collapse of the security concept under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Bennett intends to break four assumptions if elected, starting with Iran and Hezbollah. He proposed that every Hezbollah attack would lead to a strike on Iran, reversing the existing equation.

Bennett also plans to formally define Qatar as an enemy state. A third assumption Bennett challenged is the role of Turkey and Qatar in Gaza's postwar arrangements. He intends to remove Turkey and Qatar from Gaza and bring Egypt in, while maintaining freedom of action. Bennett addressed the circulation of illegal weapons in Israel, pledging to redefine the issue as a national security threat and declaring areas with illegal weapons as closed military zones.

He also criticized the IDF manpower crisis, stating that everyone must be drafted without exemptions in the next government. Bennett's No. 2, Yair Lapid, presented Beyachad's top foreign policy goals. He opposed giving up U.S. military aid to Israel and called Netanyahu's position a serious mistake. Lapid laid out six goals for repairing Israel's foreign relations, including restoring bipartisan standing with the U.S., rebuilding ties with the European Union, deepening cooperation with NATO, confronting hostile public opinion in certain countries, repairing relations with Diaspora Jewry, and preventing uranium enrichment on Saudi soil.

Lapid also called for Qatar to be declared an enemy state and advocated for Turkey's tensions to be lowered. Both Bennett and Lapid emphasized the need for better coordination between economic and foreign policies and an overhaul of Israel's international public diplomacy.