Losing legitimacy: 4th staff member leaves Bennett in a month
3 Min Read
Things aren't looking too good for the Israeli prime minister.
-
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in the Israeli parliament on May 9, 2022 (Flash90)
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, whose governance is currently facing a political crisis and waning legitimacy, has lost his fourth aide in a month. His diplomatic spokesperson, Matan Sidi, announced on Monday his resignation from the PM's office.
Bennett's diplomatic advisor, Shimrit Meir, chief of staff Tal Gan-Zvi, office manager and personal assistant Naomi Sasson, have all quit the prime minister's service within the past month, exposing the futility of the Israeli establishment.
Sidi will be joining the private sector, according to Bennett. Yotam Ben Yitzhak, 32, will be replacing the resigned aide. Leading on a rich CV, Sidi ran communications within the PM's office, and has been Bennett's personal media advisor. He had also served as Bennett's advisor for education and defense for 4 years on his team. Sidi also worked as a spokesman for State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman.
In a statement released by Bennett's office, the PM thanked Sidi for his service and "professionlism and great talent."
Ben Yitzhak, who will be replacing Sidi, is a former military officer who served as spokesman for the occupation forces' central command. A year ago, he had been serving as Bennett's political spokesman since Bennett's formation of government, which is doomed to fail.
On Monday, "Israel's" coalition government sustained a major defeat from the opposition, as it lost a vote to uphold Israeli law (The Judea and Sameria Law) in occupied West Bank settlements. This poses a challenge for the ruling party.
The defiance does not address the continuation of Israeli law in the West Bank per se, but rather the very stability of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's government,
Law Minister Gideon Sa’ar, before the vote, said that the vote was a crucial test of the coalition’s legitimacy.
Read more: Bennett: 'Israel' stands before true test, gov't close to collapse
The opposition - mostly made up of ultra-Zionist parties and led by former PM Benjamin Netanyahu -, despite ideologically supporting Israeli expansion, announced that it will vote against the bill in a bid to express distrust in the government. It gathered a total of 58 votes to 52.
If the law does not pass on July 1, over 475,000 settlers in the West Bank will no longer receive the same rights as the rest of the settlers in other areas, including voting rights.
