Bezalel Smotrich

Netanyahu attacks Bennett, Lapid's joint party list announcement with inflammatory video

Members of the Netanyahu-led coalition and the opposition reacted to Bennett and Lapid's announcement that the two will form a joint list for the 2026 Knesset elections.

|ByJAMES GENN
(L-R) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, Opposition Leader and Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid.
Naftali Bennett at the scene where a ballistic missile fired from Iran hit Tel Aviv overnight, causing heavy damage, March 1, 2026.

Bennett doubles down on mandatory haredi enlistment, blames current gov't for lack of IDF soldiers

"Draft evasion is costing the lives of our soldiers," the former prime minister said during an interview on Radio 103FM.

|ByARIELLA ROITMAN
FINANCE MINISTER Bezalel Smotrich holds a press conference ahead of the vote on the state budget at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, March 29, 2026.

Smotrich: US supports Israeli West Bank settlement expansion - interview

In past efforts by Israel to expand control in the West Bank, the US has called for maintaining stability in the area, adding that US President Donald Trump has not backed total annexation.

|ByKESHET NEEV
Israeli President Isaac Herzog is seen meeting with Arab women at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, on June 25, 2023.

Dismantling government investments in Israeli Arab society - opinion

“Investing in employment, in education, in infrastructure in Arab society is not a left or right, conservative or liberal issue.”

|ByKENNETH BANDLER

Government approves grants for residents whose homes were damaged in Iranian missile strikes

NIS 2,000 will be provided initially to each resident whose home was damaged and declared unfit for habitation, with residents additionally evacuated to a government-funded hotel.

MARCH 2, 2026ByKESHET NEEV
New Israeli Shekel banknotes are seen in this picture illustration taken November 9, 2021

‘Prepared for any scenario’: Israeli politicians unite backing Iran operation, vow full readiness

In his remarks, Netanyahu accused Iran’s leadership of sponsoring terrorism and threatening Israel and the United States.

FEBRUARY 28, 2026ByKESHET NEEV, JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pictured in Jerusalem on February 26, 2026; illustrative.

Middle Israel: Smotrich’s crushing Knesset defeat exposes the finance minister's limits - opinion

Smotrich is a light-year away from the Israeli consensus. Why does a man who represents but a marginal, detached, and minuscule part of Israeli society sit on its national chest?

FEBRUARY 27, 2026ByAMOTZ ASA-EL
EVEN BEZALEL Smotrich’s rivals agree that he is a smart man who studies complex issues quickly and knows how to make decisions. Here, the finance minister leads a faction meeting at the Knesset on Monday.

Netanyahu’s coalition topples Smotrich’s order to double tax import rate, opposition celebrates

The order was rejected by a wide margin, with 59 MKs against and 25 in favor.

FEBRUARY 24, 2026ByKESHET NEEV
Finance Minister and head of the Religious Zionist Party Bezalel Smotrich speaks at the 40-signatures debate at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on February 23, 2026.

Mosque set on fire near Nablus, Australian teen attacked

The Jerusalem Post's must-listen news roundup with Shifra Jacobs—the top stories, clear and concise. 

FEBRUARY 23, 2026ByJERUSALEM POST PODCASTS
A Palestinian man, holding Misbaha prayer beads, inspects the debris at a mosque, which Palestinians say was damaged by Israeli settlers, in West Bank village of Surra, near Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 23, 2026.

Business owners protest at Knesset as Smotrich raises Israel's import tax exemption

The government approved Smotrich's order on Sunday and is expected to be finalized through a vote in the Knesset plenum on Monday evening.

FEBRUARY 23, 2026ByKESHET NEEV
Finance Minister and Head of the Religious Zionist Party Bezalel Smotrich leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, February 16, 2026.

Netanyahu's political opposition must present clear policies - opinion

Israel’s opposition unites against Netanyahu, but lacks policies to present a clear alternative government.

FEBRUARY 22, 2026BySUSAN HATTIS ROLEF
Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel creeps toward West Bank annexation as election season approaches - opinion

The de facto annexation of the West Bank is the natural byproduct of a political system where words are cheap and real power operates without transparency.

FEBRUARY 20, 2026ByYAAKOV KATZ
A Palestinian man walks past a fence decorated with Israeli flags installed by Jewish settlers in the northern West Bank. The de facto annexation of the West Bank is the natural byproduct of a political system where words are cheap and real power operates without transparency, the writer says.

If the political elite keep performing for cameras, Israel will never be able to heal - editorial

Since October 7, opposition figures have argued that they would have governed, prepared, and responded better than Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition.

FEBRUARY 20, 2026ByJPOST EDITORIAL
A VIEW of Kibbutz Be’eri shows a destroyed home from a world left behind on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists, Palestinian civilians, UNWRA workers, and media members infiltrated Gaza border communities and massacred 1,200 people.

Hamas allegedly asked Mansour Abbas to ensure Netanyahu's re-election in 2021 - report

The official reportedly believed that "Netanyahu was looking for continued calm and quiet understandings, while a new government would be dragged into an operation in the Gaza Strip."

FEBRUARY 19, 2026ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Ra'am party head MK Mansour Abbas leads a faction meeting, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on January 12, 2026.