Naftali Bennett entered his position as minister of defense during the uproar over the killing of Islamic Jihad leader Baha Abu al-Ata and the launch of Operation Black Belt Nov. 12. As a result, he asked that there not be any military ceremony to mark the occasion, as is customary. As Bennett himself explained, he wanted “to get right down to business, dealing with the important challenges.” On the other hand, it looked more like he was afraid that anything he said on such an occasion could be used against him if he failed at his job.

Bennett arrived at the Ministry of Defense intending to rehabilitate his political status after a particularly difficult year. In the first election of 2019 in April, his party failed to pass the electoral threshold, while in the second election in September he was only placed fourth on the Yamina party’s Knesset list. He began his first meeting with the General Staff by reciting the prayer for the State of Israel: “Our Father in Heaven, Rock and Redeemer of Israel, bless the State of Israel, the first manifestation of the approach of our redemption. Shield it with Your lovingkindness, envelop it in Your peace, and bestow Your light and truth upon its leaders, ministers, and advisors, and grace them with Your good counsel. …” Then he paused and added a few words of his own: “Now more than ever.”

There was an uproar during Operation Protective Edge in 2014 when Brig. Gen. Ofer Winter, then commander of the Givati Brigade, distributed instructions to his troops, telling them to fight the enemy (Hamas) for the sake of God. When Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot refused to promote Winter, many thought it was because of his insertion of religion into his orders, particularly since so many people expressed reservations about it. While several people in the General Staff seemed a little uncomfortable when Bennett read his prayer, this time no one was publicly critical of the way that God was being recruited to advance the Israel Defense Force’s (IDF's) operational objectives. Criticism of Bennett only came after he started making statements without coordinating them first with the defense establishment, particularly when they ran directly counter to longstanding positions. Senior members of the defense establishment even accused the new minister of making those declarations out of narrow political interests.

One of Bennett’s first decisions was to establish a new Jewish neighborhood in Hebron’s wholesale market complex. It was a very volatile choice, and the plan still has a long way to go before it is approved, but why would Bennett care? With it, he was able to prove to voters on the right that he is taking care of their interests, or at least it looks that way.