TEL AVIV – Israel’s Defense Minister Naftali Bennett’s recent interview on live TV was interrupted by a gatecrasher in the form of his 8-year-old son. The perennially cool defense minister continues to answer the news anchor’s questions, stopping only to kiss or caress the young interloper.
Bennett was discussing Israel’s exit strategy from the coronavirus lockdown in an interview from his home Saturday night when his son sauntered into the frame, apparently seeking some TLC from his famous dad.
The news anchor asks Bennett, who is the head of the right-wing Yamina party, whether the newly formed unity government between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and erstwhile rival Blue and White chief Benny Gantz was throwing Bennett’s own party to the curb during coalition negotiations.
Bennett embraces his son, David, but seems unperturbed by either the question nor his son’s sudden presence.
“I came to [politics] to make a difference,” Bennett said.
“I could have stayed in hitech and made millions, or been with my family,” the former entrepreneur said, and kissed his son on the forehead to drive the point home.
The anchor concluded the interview by thanking Bennett and telling him to “go and make an omelette for your son.”
Commenting about the article on Twitter, international human rights lawyer and pro-Israel activist Arsen Ostrovsky described the interview as “beautiful.”
“I always thought ‘you can find the true measure of a man, by how he acts with his family,'” Ostrovsky wrote.
Bennett’s son’s interruption interview harked back to a live BBC TV interview that went viral after an expert’s children interrupted it with comic timing.