Istanbul / Khaled Youssef / Anadolu

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday described the past four years of Benjamin Netanyahu's government term as 'years of chaos and darkness.'

Bennett, leader of the opposition 'Together' party, made the remarks in a post on his official account on the American platform 'X,' following a meeting with over 30 women's organization leaders in Israel to listen to women's issues.

Bennett said the past four years of Netanyahu's government were years of 'chaos and darkness' and witnessed 'deliberate harm through a series of laws, neglect and incompetence, and government systems that simply do not work.'

Netanyahu's government began its term at the end of 2022 by proposing bills it called 'judicial reform,' which the opposition considered an end to democracy, and then launched ongoing wars on Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and Yemen, and concluded with a series of laws for the benefit of the 'Haredim,' which the opposition dubbed 'laws of evasion and plunder.'

On Wednesday, Bennett said in press statements that the next Israeli government will work to 'repair what the current government has destroyed,' referring to the laws passed by the Knesset (parliament) regarding the continued exemption of religious Jews 'Haredim' from military service.

Israeli opposition parties hope to win the general elections scheduled for October 27, while Bennett seeks to return to the political scene after serving as prime minister between 2021 and 2022.

The Haredim make up about 13% of Israel's population of over 10 million, and they refuse to perform military service, claiming they are devoted to studying the Torah, believing that integration into secular society threatens their religious identity.

For decades, members of this community managed to avoid conscription when they reached the age of 18 by obtaining repeated deferrals on the pretext of studying in religious institutions, until reaching the exemption age currently set at 26.

However, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled in June 2024 that the Haredim are obligated to perform military service, and to stop financial support for religious institutions whose students refuse to enlist.