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In a special interview on CNN Wednesday night, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett said that incidents such as the killing of four children on a Gaza beach earlier Wednesday were entirely the fault of Hamas – and were no accident. “I think it is terrible that Hamas is butchering its own children like this,” Bennett told senior CNN correspondent Wolf Blitzer. “I would never take my children and place them next to rocket missile launchers,” knowing that it was likely to be targeted by the IDF, he said. “Hamas is conducting massive self-genocide, taking women and children and placing them next...

A “peace conference” sponsored by the leftist Israeli newspaper Haaretz devolved into violence on Tuesday when an Israeli government official was heckled and then punched in the back by an attendee, according to reports. Attendees at the Israel Conference on Peace—which was kicked off with an endorsement by President Barack Obama and features a who’s who of liberal speakers—began shouting hateful slogans and then accosted Knesset member Naftali Bennett after he defended the government’s military action, which was undertaken to stop Hamas terrorists from bombarding civilians with rockets. Left-leaning government officials who spoke at the conference condemned Hamas’ aggression and...

The Minister of Economics, Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett, was verbally and physically assaulted Tuesday in the course of the Peace Conference sponsored by ultra-leftist newspaper Haaretz. Bennett was one of the few speakers invited to the conference from outside of the political left. When he walked up on the stage, boos and catcalls of “fascist” and “murderer” were heard from the audience. Additionally, cries of "Mohammed Abu Khder's blood is on your hands" were heard, a reference to the 16-year-old Arab youth found murdered last Wednesday. ..... The Jewish Home leader used a phrase familiar to smartphone GPS users...

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett on Monday warned the terrorists involved in the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens in the West Bank last week, that if they harm the teens, Israel will chase them down. "Our aim is to bring the boys home," Bennett said. "I say to the terrorists, if one hair on the heads of the three children is damaged, we will chase any person who was involved in the planning, aiding, or execution of this kidnapping, whether he was involved directly or indirectly." Bennett made the remarks outside of the Makor Chaim Yeshiva in Kfar Etzion where...

U.S. President Barack Obama sees Israel as being responsible for the failure of the recent peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA), according to a senior official in Washington who was quoted by the New York Times on Friday. The unnamed official told the newspaper that the president believes that Israel’s announcements of new construction in Judea and Samaria were to blame for the failure. “At every juncture, there was a settlement announcement,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “It was the thing that kept throwing a wrench in the...

Middle East envoy Martin Indyk was overheard at an upscale Washington, D.C., bar bashing Israel and fully blaming it for the recent failure of peace talks with the Palestinians, according to an individual who overheard the conversation and described it as a surprising and “nasty” 30-minute-long tirade against the Jewish state. Indyk—who has been identified by the Washington Free Beacon as the source of a recent series of anonymous quotes in the press condemning Israel—was caught openly lashing out at Israel over drinks with several members of his staff and wife, Gahl Burt. The conversation took place in the hotel...

Middle East envoy Martin Indyk was overheard on Thursday night, at the bar of the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Washington, D.C., bashing Israel and fully blaming it for the recent failure of peace talks with the Palestinians, the Washington Free Beacon reports, citing an individual who overheard the conversation and described it as a surprising and “nasty” 30-minute-long tirade.

Martin Indyk, the American negotiator in the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), reportedly went on a “nasty” rant blaming the Jewish state for the talks” failure in a conversation in an upscale Washington DC bar last Thursday. A person who overheard the conversation told Washington Free Beacon that the 30-minute-long tirade included Indyk, his wife Gahl Burt, and several members of his staff. It took place right after he spoke at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), where he openly blamed Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria for the failure of the talks, despite...

Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Perry (Yesh Atid) is trying to shelve the law that was approved Sunday by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation and that would enforce life sentences for terrorist prisoners. On Monday evening, Perry filed an appeal against the law, essentially burying it before it can be brought to the Cabinet for approval. The law would amend one of the Basic Laws of Israel, which allows the President to pardon criminals, by stating certain conditions that would prevent the pardon of any convicted terrorist. The amendment seeks to allow the judges of the court, at the time...

The man who wants to test his power against Prime Minister Benajmin Netanyahu, Israel's popular "King Bibi," works in a surprisingly understated, tube-shaped office with three telephones ringing off the hook. The only thing that stands out is a picture on the wall. Covered in glass, it shows an embroidered figure of a woman wearing an apron dress. Economics Minister Naftali Bennett, 42, is keen to show that he doesn't hold much regard for the daily grind of political life and that if it weren't for the azure silhouette of his great aunt Zila embroidered in yarn, he might instead...

John Kerry is clearly not motivated by anti-Semitism, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett said Monday, setting the record straight after a lawmaker from his own party last month accused the US secretary of state of harboring hatred for the Jewish people. “Kerry is no anti-Semite. Whoever suggested that is flatly wrong,” Bennett, the chairman of the Jewish Home party, told American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. “We might sometimes disagree but America is our biggest friend; it’s our strategic friend. It’s not only an ally, it’s a big friend. However, definitely, we can agree to not agree.” …

In what appears to be the worst crisis yet for the governing coalition, sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday threatened to fire Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett over his criticism of Netanyahu a day earlier. “Bennett was given a message that he has to apologize clearly and unequivocally or there will be a price to pay,” a source in the Prime Minister’s Office told The Times of Israel. On Tuesday, Bennett delivered a speech lambasting the prime minister in the wake of a Times of Israel report according to which Netanyahu wants Jewish settlers to be...

Minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) is presenting to the government Sunday new statistics on anti-Semitism in Europe—and the results are revealing. […] An online survey conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights revealed that in 2013, 23% of respondents refrained from attending Jewish events or religious services for fear of being attacked on their way there; 38% are afraid to wear religious symbols, like the yarmulke or kippah, in public; and 66% view anti-Semitism as having a major and constant impact on their lives. Worse, European Jews believe that their governments view anti-Semitism...

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni sharply criticized Economics Minister Naftali Bennett Monday, after the Jewish Home party leader remarked at a faction meeting that a Palestinian state would "crush" the Israeli economy. "The Economics Minister must decide if he represents the Israeli people, or just the residents of isolated settlements," Livni insisted. "In these trying times, when both left-wing and right-wing businessmen are deeply concerned about the future of the Israeli economy, the person in charge of that economy actually prefers to listen to extremist Rabbis," Livni claimed. "The role of a responsible, Zionist leader is not to side with policies...

Bayit Yehudi chairman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett dismissed on Tuesday the possibility of swapping land with the Palestinians for peace or security. The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations "have only brought us terror," Bennett said at an Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference. He further warned that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state under any future peace deal will lead to terror. The Palestinian children who were born at the time the 1993 Oslo accord was agreed upon are now 21 and have grown up on incitement, he said. "No piece of paper will change this." Bennett turned...

Bayit Yehudi will not remain in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government if it officially adopts peace proposals presented by US Secretary of State John Kerry, even if reservations are presented, party leader Naftali Bennett said in closed conversations Wednesday. Ahead of Kerry's visit, Bennett spoke multiple times this week with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Israel's negotiators in diplomatic talks with the Palestinians. He insisted on receiving as much information as possible about America's proposal immediately after Kerry meets with Netanyahu. "Bennett is up to speed and has done his homework," a source close to him said. "He will not...

Economics minister and Jewish Home leader says Israel cannot ‘sit idly by’ while world allows Iran to be 6 weeks from the bomb Economics and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) said Saturday that a “bad deal” with Iran on curbing its nuclear program would “increase the need for Israeli [military] action.” “If there will be a deal which would allow Iran to have the ability to ‘break out’ and build a bomb within six weeks, we cannot sit idly by in this situation and we will examine all the options,” Bennett told Channel 2 Saturday evening.

The idea of a Palestinian state has run its course and Israel must seek another solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) said Monday, joining a growing number of coalition members who have recently expressed firm opposition to the two-state solution. “The idea of forming a Palestinian state in Israel has reached a dead end,” Bennett said at a meeting of the Yesha Council, the umbrella organization of Jewish communities in the West Bank. Never in the history of the Jewish people has so much energy been invested in “something so pointless,” and “we...

The intended Justice Minister, Tzipi Livni, attacked the partnership between Bayit Yehudi head MK Naftali Bennett and Yesh Atid head MK Yair Lapid at week's end. "The disagreements between me and the Bayit Yehudi are very deep," Livni told Channel 10. "Regrettably, the pact between Lapid and Bennett inserted those elements into the government." "I hope that on the diplomatic subjects, Lapid won't adopt Bennett's views," she added. "I expect that in this government, at least on diplomatic matters, we will receive support from Bayit Yehudi and the pact will not lead to substantive issues being blocked. It is not...

The head of the Bayit Yehudi, Naftali Bennett, defended the #14 man on the party's Knesset list, Jeremy Gimpel, who came under attack as an extremist in TV's leftist Channel 2 at week's end. "I am proud of Jeremy Gimpel and of my entire list," Bennett told Channel 2's Dana Weiss in a Saturday night interview. The channel's Friday night newscast, a special weekly edition which sums up the week's events, featured an attack on Gimpel by ultra-leftist pundit Amnon Abramovich. Abramovich showed viewers a Youtube video of Gimpel speaking before a Christian group and raising the theoretical possibility that...