Bennett: IDF will collapse without haredi enlistment, Netanyahu is dismantling military
B'Yachad leader and former prime minister Naftali Bennett speaks at the Hostages Square, in Tel Aviv, September 29, 2026 (photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV) Former prime minister Naftali Bennett warned on Tuesday that the IDF would collapse due to a lack of manpower if haredim (ultra-Orthodox) are not drafted into the military during the next government’s term following the October elections. "[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu warns of security threats, but he himself is leading the most serious threat of all: mass draft evasion and the collapse of the IDF," Bennett said. He made the remarks at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, where families of October 7 victims built a sukkah for the Sukkot holiday called the “Sukkah of Failure.” Bennett's B'Yachad party is one of the leading parties in the opposition bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu in the October elections. “I am here today at Hostages Square, which symbolizes the terrible failure of the October 7 gover...