AI is Israel’s next national-security battlefield as global standing sinks, Bennett says

Bennett said Israel’s current diplomatic weakness makes technological power even more important. Israel, he argued, must work to restore its standing abroad while ensuring that allies and rivals alike continue to need Israeli innovation.

“We are not popular in the world, and we are not loved,” he said. “I do not seek for them to love us. I want our friends to appreciate us and our enemies to fear us.”

“One of the tools for this interim period, until we improve Israel’s status in the world, is that they will need us,” Bennett added.

Bennett said the government must make sure Israel has a strategic answer at every layer of the AI ecosystem, from infrastructure and chips to models, energy, and applications.

“The responsibility of the Israeli government is to make sure that in each of these layers we have an answer, so that we are not dependent on others,” he said.

He acknowledged that Israel had likely missed the opportunity to build frontier AI models from scratch, saying the cost of doing so now runs into “billions and billions,” but argued that the country must still secure capabilities through domestic development and durable partnerships.

Bennett also said every Israeli child should receive a personal AI tutor, arguing that the education system must stop treating AI as a threat.

“Every child will receive a personal AI private teacher,” he said. “The AI will teach. The teacher will educate.”

The former prime minister tied the technology discussion directly to Iran, saying Israel had erred for decades by fighting Tehran’s proxies while leaving the regime itself largely untouched.

He said that as a cabinet member in 2017, he presented a plan to weaken what he called “the Iranian octopus,” arguing that Israel was too focused on “the arms” of the octopus, including Hezbollah and Hamas, while “the head” remained in Tehran.

“Why do our sons fall in Maroun al-Ras and Shuja’iyya while the ayatollahs in Tehran are immune?” Bennett asked.

Bennett said that when he became prime minister, he began implementing a broader strategy that included cyber tools, covert action, support for opposition forces, exposing corruption, and efforts to preserve internet access during Iranian protests.

“The first thing the regime does every time there is a protest is shut down the internet,” Bennett said. “I said: Let us create infrastructure for internet continuity before the next protest. They would shut it down, and we would turn it on.”

He claimed that Netanyahu did not continue the program after Bennett’s government fell.

“Had they continued this plan, not only the internet component but dozens of actions, I think that in the January 2026 protest wave, the Iranian regime could have fallen,” Bennett said. “There was a historic missed opportunity.”

Bennett stressed that military force was only one tool available to Israel.

“Reagan never bombed Moscow, and he defeated the Soviet Union without using the military,” he said. “The state has dozens of diplomatic, public-diplomacy, economic, and other tools, and we insist on using only one.”

Bennett sharply criticized the Netanyahu government’s handling of Israel’s current wars, saying Israel had failed to achieve its goals on multiple fronts.

“Hamas is growing stronger and recruiting terrorists. Hezbollah is strengthening, hurting our soldiers and standing. Iran is on its feet and recovering, already renewing its ballistic production plants,” he said. “The government has not met any goal it set for itself.”

He also warned that Israelis traveling abroad this summer would feel the consequences of Israel’s weakened diplomatic position.

“The international status of Israel is the hardest it has ever been,” Bennett said, adding that, for the first time since Israel’s founding, a majority in the US views Israel negatively.

Bennett said Israel must now combine technological strength with a renewed diplomatic offensive. He praised UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, calling him “probably the best state leader in the world today for his country,” and said Israel had failed to turn the Abraham Accords into a major technology bridge because of poor execution.

In the first weeks of a government led by him, Bennett said, he would seek to reengage Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Bahrain, and possibly Saudi Arabia.

“There will be a revival here,” Bennett said.

He also said he believed he could work effectively with US President Donald Trump, saying they shared a business-oriented and pragmatic approach.

“We both come from a business background. We are both very pragmatic. We both believe that business is one of the foundations of peace and normalization,” Bennett said.

Still, Bennett said Israel must stand firmly for its own interests, citing his refusal as prime minister to agree to the reopening of a US consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem.

“I told him, with all politeness, ‘Mr. President, I respect you. I must refuse,’” Bennett said of then-US president Joe Biden.

The interview also touched on domestic politics, with Bennett saying Israel must build a broad Zionist government and that he and former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot must prevent ego from dividing the opposition bloc.

“Gadi and I need to enter a room until white smoke comes out,” Bennett said. “I will do anything, everything, to make this happen.”

Bennett said he believes he is the most qualified candidate for prime minister, citing his experience as premier, defense minister, economy minister, and high-tech entrepreneur, but added that he would do “whatever is required” to bring political change.

On Netanyahu, Bennett said the prime minister was “no longer capable” of leading because of his political dependence on the Haredi parties and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

“He needs to go home,” Bennett said. “The state does not depend on him.”