Since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister and Prime Minister-designate Yair Lapid have spoken in two different voices. While Bennett has been very mindful of the Russian leader's dignity, Lapid has been more free and assertive with his words, openly condemning the Russians, leading an Israeli vote against Moscow at the UN, and standing with Ukraine. This is not the result of differing opinions but rather a coordinated move. Many in the political system nevertheless believe the two are in over their heads.
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The idea that two of the most senior representatives of the Israeli government can play good cop / bad cop in the international arena is crazy, infantile, and bad for the Jewish state. Israel has always spoken with one voice. At the UN, for example, Israel has one vote. Other countries don't care whether that vote is Lapid's or Bennett's, it's still the State of Israel's. Any other view is the result of amateur politics or a strange attempt to evade difficult decision-making.
Indeed, the decision is a difficult one. The heart tends to support Ukraine, the occupied country in this scenario. Memories of the Holocaust have also risen to the surface, and regardless of the history of the Ukrainian people and their role in the murder of the Jews at that time, no one wants to see people murdered in the streets.
In recent years, Israel's prime ministers have met often with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It began under former Premier and now Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu and continued along the exact same lines in the Bennett era. It is thanks to these frequent meetings that the Israel Defense Forces' freedom of operations in the Golan Heights, where thousands of Russian soldiers are stationed, is made possible. Putin allows Israeli jets to bomb Iranian targets but does not grand all of Israel's security requests.
If this interest is such a high priority from a security perspective, then the prime minister and foreign minister must not make any statements that put this interest at risk. One less condemnation is preferable to having the Iranians on our border fence.
The current government's problematic conduct in the international arena began long before the invasion of Ukraine. It goes back to Lapid's and Bennett's strategic decision, initiated by Lapid, to utterly cower before US President Joe Biden's administration. With the apparent understanding the fragile government would not be able to withstand US pressure, they decided it was better to give up in advance.
Israeli governments, for generations, failed to stand up to the pressure: From Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin, and Netanyahu. What chance, then, did this coalition have of standing firm in the face of US pressure? What's more, many coalition partners agree with the Americans on questions like settlements in Judea and Samaria, liberalism, and globalization. In recent months, Lapid and Bennett have focused their efforts on convincing the White House and the US State Department not in the righteousness of the Jewish state's path or the need to maintain its security but rather that the stability of the current coalition is a matter of American interest. Lapid and Bennett promised Biden obedience and mainly having him avoid having to deal with a worse alternative should the current government collapse. All this in return for him leaving them in peace and not pressuring them in public, actions that could put the coalition at risk.
One of Bennett's proudest achievements is the prevention of the establishment of a de-facto consulate to the Palestinians in Jerusalem. Yet this was not the result of a campaign to convince the Americans Jerusalem belongs to the Jewish people or that the capital was not a matter for negotiation. No, the only message Jerusalem sent in this context was that the consulate would threaten coalition stability. Biden thought about it and came to the conclusion that better the coalition in hand as long as it leaves Netanyahu and the Right in the bush.
The Americans now expect Bennett and Lapid to condemn Moscow and vote against it at the UN. Their fate is inextricably tied to Biden. As for the Golan Heights, if we have learned anything in recent weeks, it's that the Americans cannot be trusted on security issues whatsoever. Here, too, the prime minister has prioritized political stability over security.
Petty politics at the UN
The political amateurism broke new records this week when Lapid ordered Israel's UN envoy Gilad Erdan not to deliver a speech at a meeting of the international body to condemn Russia. Lapid has nothing against Erdan on the diplomatic level. No one in the Foreign Ministry would argue he has been anything but professional in the role. No, Lapid's considerations are political. He cannot stomach the idea of a senior figure from the other camp taking the stage and stealing all the attention. Although this tactic does exist in the field of international relations, the excuse that the decision to have the deputy ambassador deliver the remarks instead of a more senior official was made to avoid sparking a crisis with Russia is without credit. No one in the Foreign Ministry or the political system believes this to have been the motive for the move. By torpedoing Erdan's speech, Lapid has, once again, shown himself to be petty and conspiratorial.
If it were up to Bennett, by the way, Erdan would have delivered the speech. Bennett trusts Erdan, which is why the latter stayed on in his UN role. In Washington, where Erdan served as Israel's Ambassador to the US, there is a need not just for trust but a belief in the righteousness of the government's path, which is why Erdan resigned from that role. At the UN, where there is a greater need to represent the State of Israel rather than the Israeli government, there was no reason for him not to remain in the role. Bennett was not a partner to Lapid's decision not to allow Erdan to deliver the speech. Even if he was updated on the move, he would not really have had any means to oppose. Lapid is now running the show.
Vienna waits for no one
Lapid and Bennett would very much like to be significant players in the international arena, but they have neither the experience nor the talent necessary. This is true despite the prime minister's attempts to mediate between Kyiv and Moscow, and through a partial and twisted representation of facts, make it seem as if Putin initiated the move. That report made headlines until the Kremlin clarified that Bennett had in fact been the one to offer Israel's mediation.
Yet the coalition's most significant failure in the international arena concerns Iran. According to reports, as the world's eyes focus on Ukraine, Israel's attention should have been on Vienna, where efforts to renew the nuclear accord, are continuing apace. Officially, Israel opposes the accord, yet it has done absolutely nothing to prevent it from being signed. Even if a deal is reached, Jerusalem should speak out against it clearly, if only to slightly improve the terms of the agreement. Even if they are anxiously waiting to sign an accord, world leaders have learned to listen to Israel, its concerns, and its intelligence picture. If Israel were vocal enough in its opposition, this could lead to improvements to the deal. Silence serves the interests first and foremost of Iran, which is about to sign the deal of a lifetime. Hundreds of billions of dollars will flow into its coffers, and we know where many of those funds will be headed.
The current state of the world could have served Israel's interests. America is dealing with a significant arena, and this can be used to make things more difficult for negotiators in Vienna by demanding an immediate end to talks and sending a message the weakness Biden has demonstrated in Ukraine obligates him to take a tougher stance now in Austria.
This is what Netanyahu said in an address to the Knesset this week. This is what nearly all senior Likud party officials have been arguing. There is a strong sense of bewilderment and as a result frustration with the coalition's incompetence on the issue. Although outside of an interview or speech in the Knesset, there is naturally nothing they can do about it anyway.
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