Bennett Greeted With Protests on Visit to West Bank Settlement

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday visited the West Bank settlement of Elkana – his first official visit to a settlement since he took office in June 2021. Bennett was there to participate in a celebration marking the 45^th anniversary of the settlement’s founding in 1977. Far-right activists demonstrated against the prime minister and his government, a coalition of eight parties that includes not only right-wing parties like Bennett’s Yamina but also parties from the Center and Left, as well as this Islamist United Arab List. Protesters called him a traitor and chanted, “Bennett, don’t sell Elkana to the Arabs,” the liberal daily Haaretz reported on its website. “As prime minister of Israel, I do not want any group in the country to live in fear,” Bennett said. “The government is for the benefit of everyone. I will make every effort in the world to hold it together. Nobody has been excluded except for those who exclude themselves.” Before entering electoral politics, Bennett served as director of the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.