The political re-emergence of Naftali Bennett alongside Yair Lapid is being packaged as something new, something refreshing, something the country supposedly needs. It isn’t. It’s a recycled political experiment that Israel has already lived through, and rejected. This is not a new direction, it is the same fragile coalition model that previously relied on Mansour Abbas and Ra’am, a structure that struggled from day one to define itself as stable, national, or even coherent. No amount of rebranding changes the reality: this was a government that could not function independently, could not act decisively, and could not deliver on the most basic expectations of leadership.

The previous Bennett-Lapid government tried to sell unity, but in practice it operated under constant internal paralysis. Every meaningful decision, especially on national security or military-related matters, depended on Bibi Netanyahu’s oppositional support just to survive. That alone exposes the core weakness. A government that cannot govern without its opponents is not leading, it is negotiating its own existence day by day. While billions were transferred as part of political deals, even simple benefits for IDF soldiers became bargaining chips. Priorities were distorted, and ideology was watered down to the point where the coalition stood for nothing except staying in power.

One of the most striking examples was the maritime agreement with Lebanon. Under pressure, Israel, led by Bennett-Lapid’s government, gave up territory and economic assets without a clear parliamentary mandate. This was........

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