Is ambien really WORSE then restoril?? : insomnia

I have horrible insomnia and anxiety and am already prescribed .5 Xanax for panic attacks. While it helps and helps me sleep, I’ve heard of horrendous things about benzo withdrawal so I limit my use to only 1 maybe twice a week. However I still have horrible insomnia. I asked my doctor for a script of ambien to help me sleep on nights I DONT want to take Xanax for tolerance purposes, and that I had heard good things about it. He told me “Ambien is very strong and dangerous who told you about this?” And said he didn’t want to , they it was too strong. He prescribed me restoril instead. However upon looking it up it says that it’s a BENZO? I thought that’s what I was trying to stay away from. Ambien is NOT a benzo. Why would he do this? Is ambien really more strong and dangerous then restoril? Thanks guys