Bibi Speaks    

After a tough year in the opposition, and now within striking distance of retaking power, Binyamin Netanyahu opens up to Mishpacha in an interview, laying down an unapologetically religious-right agenda for his next government, and excoriating Yair Lapid for mistakes in the struggle with Iran. He addresses Israel’s skyrocketing housing prices, a major stumbling block for young Jews planning aliyah; promises to pull Israel out of the global economic crisis, as he did with Covid; and vows once again to take the fight against the Iran Deal to Congress — despite his longstanding friendship with President Biden. But he warns that none of this will happen if right-wing voters stay home on Election Day

IFTel Aviv, the city that plays host to the Likud Party headquarters, is the city that never sleeps, Bibi Netanyahu – the building’s most famous occupant — doesn’t seem to rest either.

For the fifth time in three years, Binyamin Netanyahu is storming toward a fifth term as prime minister, younger in spirit than his competitors and fresher than all his rivals. Days packed with campaign rallies up and down the country conclude in the “aquarium” — the secure office area at party HQ where he confers with his aides.

His Schadenfreude with the three-way split among the Arab parties is matched by his confidence; he’s sure he saved the right from a stinging defeat by forcing unity on the chareidi and dati-leumi parties, two bases without which he’ll never see the inside of the prime minister’s residence again.