Former prime minister Naftali Bennett said that he was in favor of civil marriage and public transportation on Shabbat in the country, prompting criticism from haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties on Monday.
His party, Bennett 2026, has been trailing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud in recent polls ahead of elections expected no later than the end of October.
“We should allow cities to choose whether they want public transportation on Shabbat,” Bennett said in a Monday Army Radio interview.
“Every person in Israel should be able to realize their love in this country and not have to travel abroad,” he added, regarding civil marriage.
“My guiding principle on this issue is common sense and fairness,” he continued.
Civil marriage is not performed in Israel, as the religious status quo in the country dictates that Jews can only marry and divorce through the rabbinate.
This prevents same-sex couples from legally marrying in the country. As a result, many couples travel abroad to marry in civil ceremonies, which are later legally recognized upon their return and grant them marital rights.
Bennett’s remarks indicated a change in his past stance and remarks made in previous years. When he was chairperson of the right-wing Jewish Home party in 2015, he said he could not support same-sex marriage due to his religious beliefs.
Yair Golan praises Bennett’s remarks
Yair Golan, leader of the left-wing Democrats Party, welcomed Bennett’s remarks in support of civil marriage and transportation on Shabbat, saying that Bennett had “come a long way from the Jewish Home party to here.”
“Civil marriage in a liberal democratic state is a given. This is our Judaism, and we will demand it in the basic guidelines of the next government,” Golan stated in an X/Twitter post.
“It’s good to see that even in politics there can be positive surprises, and that people on the right also understand that only a strong, liberal Israel will prevail.”
“I hope the journey continues one more step, toward the necessary understanding that diplomatic moves, letting go of annexation fantasies, and making courageous decisions are the right and only path to real security,” Golan added.
The haredi Sephardi Shas Party sharply criticized Bennett for his stance. It claimed that “Anyone who, for the sake of politics, is willing to sell the Jewish identity of the state, Shabbat, which is sacred, and marriage according to the law of Moses and Israel, will not be far from also selling the Land of Israel and the settlement in Judea and Samaria.”
Regarding the political views of Bennett’s party, he said on Monday in a separate KAN Reshet Bet interview that, from a security standpoint, he holds a hawkish defense stance, which is typically associated with right-wing parties.
“From a national perspective, I am a liberal and in favor of sitting with people from both the Right and the Left,” he added.
Bennett also said that it was critically important to unite the Zionist-liberal opposition bloc.
The main figures in the opposition bloc include Golan, opposition leader MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot (Yashar!), and MK Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu).
MK Benny Gantz’s (Blue and White) opposition party, which had been part of the bloc, has failed to pass the electoral threshold in recent polls.
Bennett added that the issue of a Palestinian state was no longer the main dispute nowadays and that even figures from the left-wing parties in the opposition bloc do not currently believe that a Palestinian state should be established immediately.
He also said that he would not sit in a government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, noting in the interview that he “will replace him.”
Bennett has sharply criticized the government’s advancement of the controversial haredi draft legislation and called for universal conscription and for haredim to serve in the IDF.
He has said he would not form another government with Arab parties and would only partner with Zionist parties.
Last month, Bennett told The Jerusalem Post he would only form a government with those who serve in the IDF, ruling out forming a government with the haredi parties.
Source:
www.jpost.com
