Naftali Bennett Named As One Of TIME's 100 Most Influential People

Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people for 2021, joining world leaders from US President Joe Biden to Chinese premier Xi Jingping.

A short blurb written by Ra’am party leader Mansour Abbas, who is an unlikely coalition partner for Bennett’s right-wing Yamina party, said that for Israel’s prime minister, “it all comes down to courage.”

Abbas said that Bennett told him, “I don’t do things in the dark," and that "in a time of polarization and hate, the Israeli public needs unity."

"As the leader of an Arab party, I had become used to cameras being kept outside the room," Abbas said. "It wasn’t just the flash of the cameras that lit up the room at that moment, but the hope for a brighter future for us all."

Ra'am, an Islamist party, joined Yamina and Lapid's Yesh Atid to form a government, along with Israel's left-wing parties.

Former US president Donald Trump was also named to the list, along with Taliban leader and co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Notable Jews on the list include Rochelle Walensky, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control, and Ron Klain, Biden’s chief of staff.