Naftali Bennett

Extracted Attributes

• Awards

  Time 100

• Spouse

  Gilat Bennett

• Children

  4

• Education

  Law degree from Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• Residence

  Ra’anana, Israel

• Date of Birth

  1972-03-25

• Military Rank

  Major (IDF)

• Military Units

  Sayeret Matkal and Maglan

• Place of Birth

  Haifa, Israel

• Business Success

  Co-founded Cyota (sold for $145 million) and served as CEO of Soluto (sold for $100–130 million)

• Political Parties

  The Jewish Home, New Right, Yamina, Bennett 2026

Timeline

• Born in Haifa, Israel to American immigrant parents. (Source: Wikidata)

  1972-03-25

• Drafted into the IDF special forces, serving in Sayeret Matkal and Maglan. (Source: Prime Minister's Office)

  1990-01-01

• Co-founded the anti-fraud software company Cyota in New York. (Source: Britannica)

  1999-01-01

• Sold Cyota for $145 million and returned to Israel. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2005-01-01

• Entered politics as Chief of Staff for Benjamin Netanyahu. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2006-01-01

• Appointed Director of the Yesha Council. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2010-01-01

• Elected as the party leader of The Jewish Home. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2012-11-01

• Appointed Minister of Economy and Minister of Religious Services. (Source: Prime Minister's Office)

  2013-03-18

• Appointed Minister of Education. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2015-05-14

• Left The Jewish Home to form the New Right party. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2018-12-01

• Appointed Minister of Defense. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2019-11-12

• Sworn in as the 13th Prime Minister of Israel in a rotation government. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2021-06-13

• Succeeded by Yair Lapid as Prime Minister; assumed role of Alternate Prime Minister. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2022-07-01

• Resignation as Alternate Prime Minister became effective. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2022-11-08

• Registered a new political party under the placeholder name Bennett 2026. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2025-04-01

• Attended the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem. (Source: The Jerusalem Post)

  2026-02-17

Naftali Bennett

Naftali Bennett (Hebrew: נַפְתָּלִי בֶּנֶט, romanized: Naftālī Beneṭ [naftaˈli ˈbenet]; born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician and businessman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the alternate prime minister from 1 July to 8 November 2022. Bennett was the leader of the New Right party from 2018 to 2022, having previously led the religious Zionist and far-right political party The Jewish Home between 2012 and 2018. The son of immigrants from the United States, Bennett was born and raised in Haifa. Bennett served in the Sayeret Matkal and Maglan special forces units of the Israel Defense Forces, commanding many combat operations, and subsequently became a software entrepreneur. In 1999, he co-founded and co-owned the US company Cyota. The company was sold in 2005 for $145 million. He was also CEO of Soluto, an Israeli cloud computing service, that sold in 2013 for a reported $100–130 million. Bennett entered politics in 2006 as Chief of Staff for Benjamin Netanyahu until 2008. From 2010 to 2012, he was the director of the Yesha Council. In 2011, together with Ayelet Shaked, he co-founded the My Israel extra-parliamentary movement. In 2012, Bennett was elected as the party leader of The Jewish Home. In the 2013 Knesset election, the first contested by The Jewish Home under Bennett's leadership, the party won 12 seats in the Knesset. He served under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Minister of Economy and Religious Services from 2013 to 2015, before being appointed Minister of Education in 2015. In December 2018, Bennett left The Jewish Home to form the New Right party. After he lost his Knesset seat in the April 2019 Knesset election, he was dismissed by Netanyahu as Education Minister in June 2019. He regained his seat in the September 2019 Knesset election, representing the New Right (now a member of the Yamina alliance), and was appointed Minister of Defense, before leaving the position the following year. In the 2021 Knesset election, Yamina under Bennett's leadership won 7 seats. On 2 June 2021, Bennett agreed to a rotation government with Yair Lapid, whereby Bennett would serve as Israel's prime minister until 2023, after which Lapid would assume the role until 2025. Bennett was sworn in on 13 June 2021. On 20 June 2022, following failures of the coalition to pass bills in the Knesset, Bennett announced he would call for a vote to dissolve the Knesset and step down as prime minister after the dissolution, to be succeeded by Lapid. On 29 June, he announced that he would not seek re-election in the 2022 Israeli legislative election. Lapid succeeded him as prime minister on 1 July 2022, while Bennett succeeded Lapid as the Alternate Prime Minister. He announced his resignation as alternative prime minister on 6 November, which became effective on 8 November. Bennett registered a new political party in April 2025 under the placeholder name Bennett 2026.

Web Search Results

• Naftali Bennett - Wikipedia

  Edit this at Wikidata Naftali Bennett (Hebrew: נַפְתָּלִי בֶּנֶט, romanized: Naftālī Beneṭ (/wiki/Help:IPA/Hebrew "Help:IPA/Hebrew"); born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician and businessman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the alternate prime minister from 1 July to 8 November 2022. Bennett was the leader of the New Right "New Right (Israel)") party from 2018 to 2022, having previously led the religious Zionist and far-right political party The Jewish Home between 2012 and 2018. [...] Bennett and his brothers grew up. Some of his mother's family members who remained in Poland were murdered in the Holocaust. [...] Bennett entered politics in 2006 as Chief of Staff for Benjamin Netanyahu until 2008. From 2010 to 2012, he was the director of the Yesha Council. In 2011, together with Ayelet Shaked, he co-founded the My Israel extra-parliamentary movement. In 2012, Bennett was elected as the party leader of The Jewish Home. In the 2013 Knesset election, the first contested by The Jewish Home under Bennett's leadership, the party won 12 seats in the Knesset. He served under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Minister of Economy "Ministry of Economy (Israel)") and Religious Services from 2013 to 2015, before being appointed Minister of Education in 2015. In December 2018, Bennett left The Jewish Home to form the New Right "New Right (Israel)") party. After he lost his Knesset seat in the April 2019

• Naftali Bennett | Biography, Politics, Party, Israel, Palestinians, & Benjamin Netanyahu | Britannica

  Naftali Bennett (born March 25, 1972, Haifa, Israel) is an Israeli high-tech entrepreneur and politician who served as Israel’s prime minister (2021–22). Although he is occasionally described as far-right because of his religious political orientation, his devoted activism in favor of Israeli settlements and his controversial 2012 proposal that would restrict West Bank Palestinians to enclaves, he forged a historic unity government in 2021 consisting of left- and right-wing parties as well as a party that represents some Palestinian citizens of Israel. His fragile coalition collapsed a year later when right-wing members withdrew to bring about a right-wing government instead. He then left politics, but during the Israel-Hamas War he again emerged as a major contender for the prime [...] passed its first budget since 2018, a crucial hurdle that indicated the coalition’s ability to cooperate. Still, sudden political tensions, such as those that followed a fatal shooting in Jerusalem by a member of Hamas that same month, underscored the potential of unexpected crises to derail the coalition. [...] While performing draft duty in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the 1990s, Bennett served in Sayeret Matkal and Maglan, elite commando units that operate behind enemy lines. He then pursued a degree in law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The son of American immigrants to Israel, Bennett left Israel for New York and cofounded an anti-fraud software company in 1999. In 2005 he sold the company for $145 million and returned to Israel. ## Political rise

• Naftali Bennett Prime Minister's Office

  Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was born in Haifa on March 25, 1972, the third and youngest brother in his family. His parents, Jim and Myrna Bennett, made Aliyah to Israel in 1967 immediately after the Six Day War. Over the next few years, the family moved to Canada and back to the USA, eventually settling in Israel. Prime Minister Bennett attended the Yavne Yeshiva High School in Haifa, was a member of the Tehiya youth movement and was a youth leader in Haifa's Carmel neighborhood branch of the Bnei Akiva Zionist youth movement. [...] Naftali Bennett was drafted to the IDF special forces in 1990, where he served in the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, Sayeret Matkal, together with Matan Kahana (currently the Minister of Religious Services) and the late Emmanuel Moreno. After completing his officer's training, he transferred to Maglan, where he served as a platoon commander, and later as a company commander. While serving in Maglan, Bennett commanded a number of counterterrorism operations in southern Lebanon. During his military service, he wrote the Maglan unit's anthem. Bennett continued to serve as a reservist in Sayeret Matkal until 2013. He was discharged with the rank of major. [...] In 2012, Naftali Bennett decided to join Israeli politics. Together with Ayelet Shaked and the late Rabbi Avichai Rontzki, he established the "Israelis" political movement. He and Ayelet Shaked joined the Jewish Home party after members of the party, including his friend the late Uri Orbach called on them to do so. He ran in the primaries, won with 67% of the votes and became the Jewish Home party leader. In 2013, in the elections for the 19th Knesset, the Jewish Home party, under Bennett's leadership, won 12 seats, a huge success after years in which they held only three seats. That year, he was appointed Minister of Economy, Minister of Religious Services, Minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, Chair of the Cost of Living Cabinet and a member of the State Security Cabinet.

• Naftali Bennett Articles and latest stories | The Jerusalem Post

  The Jerusalem Post - Israel News # Naftali Bennett Naftali Bennett is an Israeli politician and served as the country’s 13th prime minister. The son of American immigrants, Bennett grew up in Haifa. He and his wife Gilat live in Ra’anana with their four children. After his IDF service in the Maglan Commando Brigade and the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, Bennett ventured into software entrepreneurship, heading various companies that sold out for over $100 million. He surfaced on the scene of Israeli politics in 2006 as chief of staff for Benjamin Netanyahu. After leading both the Bayit Yehudi and Yamina parties and serving in various ministerial positions, Bennett was sworn in on June 13, 2021 as Israel's 13th prime minister in a rotation government with Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid. [...] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gal Hirsch, Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing in the Prime Minister"s Office hold a press conferene at the Prime Minister's office in Jerursalem, January 27, 2026. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attends a Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, on February 17, 2026. ### Bennett launches national disability inclusion plan, pledges accessibility reforms if elected Bennett said at a Bnei Brak event that there are 1.2 million people with disabilities in Israel, and that the state has been failing to integrate them into society. Former prime minister Naftali Bennett and Katif el Katif founder Yonatan Shalev.

• Quick Facts: Naftali Bennett | ALL RESOURCES | Resources | The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU)

  Born to American parents who immigrated from San Francisco to Israel in 1967, Bennett is a far-right ultranationalist who staunchly opposes Palestinian statehood or self-determination of any kind in Palestine/Israel. Although not a settler himself, from 2010 to 2012 he was head of the main political body (Yesha Council) that represents Israeli settlers living on occupied Palestinian land in violation of international law and is a staunch supporter of Israel’s settlement enterprise. [...] Bennett has repeatedly stated his categorical opposition to a Palestinian state being created in the occupied territories. Instead, he proposes Israel unilaterally annex the approximately 60% of the Palestinian West Bank that fell under full Israeli control under the supposedly temporary Oslo Accords, where most Israeli settlements are located. In 2014, Bennett told journalists Israel “will be gradually attempting to apply Israeli law [annexing] on Israeli controlled areas of Judea and Samaria [the occupied West Bank].” In 2013, he declared: “I favor implementation of Israeli sovereignty over the zone where 400,000 (settlers) live and only 70,000 Arabs.” Bennett also ridiculed then-ongoing US-led negotiations under the Obama administration, declaring it’s “all a joke.” [...] In 2013, Bennett sparked controversy when it was reported that during a cabinet meeting on releasing Palestinian prisoners he declared: “If we capture terrorists, we need to just kill them… I’ve already killed a lot of Arabs in my life - and there is no problem with that.” Asked for clarification by journalists, a spokesperson said Bennett meant Israeli soldiers should be ordered to kill Palestinians instead of capturing and imprisoning them.

• Award

  Time 100

• Image

  

• Gender

  male

• Educated At

  Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• Instance Of

  Q5

• Occupation

  businessperson

• Citizenship

  Israel

• Date Of Birth

  3/25/1972

• Notable Work

  Q98794736

• Place Of Birth

  Haifa