It's been almost a year since the Bennett-Lapid government was formed, but we can already express an opinion about the fruits of its diplomatic moves. With President Isaac Herzog, the prime minister and the alternate prime minister came blustering into the diplomatic arena. Each of them set out on a series of international visits (and modestly, no use was made of Israel's official government plane).
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One after another, they met with leaders of countries important to Israel. US President Joe Biden, King Abdullah of Jordan, Egyptian President Abdul-Fattah el-Sissi, the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, and more. A romance developed between Herzog and Sultan Erdogan, whereas Defense Minister Benny Gantz insisted on fluttering around Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. In the background, there was the political partnership with the Muslim Brotherhood [Ra'am], and it all culminated in the Negev summit.
Bennett and Lapid promised the people of Israel a new diplomatic chapter, especially with the Americans and the Jordanians. They argued that they were "fixing" what their predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu had "spoiled." The two complied with a number of requests from Jordan's king and turned the volume down to nearly zero when it came to disputes with the US – so low that when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was standing next to him in Jerusalem on the eve of Ramadan and voiced concern about "settler violence," Bennett – a former head of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria – kept quiet.
The parade of flattery should have brought Israel to new heights, or certainly calmed things down, placated the critics, cooled the violent, and strengthened peace. The prime minister of Jordan, to whom Bennett was very nice, announced that "Zionists are desecrating Al-Aqsa" and congratulated the rock throwers. Gantz's guest of honor, Mahmoud Abbas, threw his own fuel on the fire, and Lapid's friend Blinken even tried on Wednesday to finger "the settlers" as the reason why Arab rioters were desecrating the holiest site in the world and perpetrating pogroms against people going to pray at the Western Wall.
None of Bennett and Lapid's "friends" said what we all know: that the Arab side is solely responsible for the wave of terrorism and rioting. No "provocation" from the Jewish side "contributed" to it. The leaders of the Jewish state didn't even dare utter this simple truth. Bennett recited a general condemnation of incitement that sounded like it was written byt eh UN, without noting who was doing the inciting.
Lapid has long since stopped using the words "Jews" and "Arabs." When they don't dare to talk or act on behalf of our rights, it's no wonder the world doesn't, either.
So even the United Arab Emirates, the breakthrough state for the Abraham Accords, summoned the Israeli ambassador for a reprimand and cancelled the participation in Israel's Independence Day flyover. Oh, the humiliation. The only one to save some of the government's honor was Gideon Sa'ar, who explicitly condemned Jordan.
The bottom line is simple, and tough: this government's policy is bankrupt. All the running to the palaces of Arab leaders exhibited weakness that did nothing to bolster peace, but rather ate away at the Abraham Accords. It also led to a wave of terrorism and violence, and left Israel without any diplomatic backing from those whom the government had called "friends."
Unlike the spin at which this government is expert, it hasn't led to any growth in Israel, but done real damage to our strength and our image.
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