So while Bennett did come to the White House, it would not have looked like a visit from a prime minister.
Not in the deep sense in which the leader of the Jewish people is meant to be with the leader of the free world.
It begins with dwarf public opinion support, continues with zero authority over its government ministers, and merges into the most important thing: purpose.
It is doubtful if there was a prime minister who comes to advance a plan, to defend an existential interest, to present a vision, to fight for a future.
It was an administrative and image visit.
Ask yourself: when was the last time a prime minister came to the White House who has no significant statement, even one, about the direction in which he is striving to bring the Jewish state, that he does not present an unequivocal position that he fought for, that he preached and wrote and argued and argued about? All the way to the captain's throne? Naftali Bennett is probably the poorest leader in terms of leadership who comes to visit Israel's largest and most important ally.
This, by the way, is neither hidden nor denied, it was explicitly stated by him in an interview with the New York Times: We have no intention of resolving the conflict - which is a laundered way of saying that we also have no intention of striving for this or that decision. Not built but also not an appendix. In other words: the State of Israel does not currently have a position on itself.
As for Iran, which on the eve of the trip was suddenly declared the main topic of discussion, Bennett does not seem to have any say. Bennett may be against the agreement, but on the other hand Israel will not act to thwart it. Now, as the Iranians make other voices, Bennett suddenly has a "new strategy" he wants to discuss with Biden. What is that strategy?
It seems that Israeli democracy should not contain another public, open and critical discussion of political and security issues. See yourself excluded from the discussion about your future and your security. As Ganz said some time ago, these are things worth revisiting "in closed rooms."
And if Israel opposes the nuclear deal, how does it intend to do so?
It is impossible to oppose the agreement without producing public opinion, without going to the American media and explaining the Israeli opposition to the agreement.
Naftali Bennett gave up all of these.
And the reason is that the purpose of the visit is the visit itself, or rather - the picture that will come out of it.
Therefore, when a prime minister on a first political trip has no position to promote - there is no choice, a publicity picture with a tallit and tefillin must be issued.
But Bennett's picture of tefillin in Washington, D.C., in an atmosphere of class-size reverence, is not just a publicity stunt designed to equate a visit with the same dimension of national mission. , Sitting in a Tel Aviv cafe in a black T-shirt while serving as the current prime minister.
Try to see them facing each other: Bennett with a tallit in Washington in front of Yair Lapid in a T-shirt in a cafe.
Faced with the secular-hedonistic cultural background and Lapid's Tel Aviv habitat, Bennett showcases a national and religious heritage.
Or as MK Nir Orbach tweeted, in case anyone did not understand: "A deep connection to the roots and eternal values of the people of Israel." This is called spoon feeding.
But the picture of Yair Lapid is not accidental either - nor is it the first.
Have you noticed that since the government was sworn in, we have been inundated with pictures of Yair Lapid in Tel Aviv cafes?
This is not accidental.
It is a conscious prominence of the source of power, of the sociological environment, of the reference group of the Foreign Minister.
Lapid seems to insist time and time again: I belong to the nation of Tel Aviv.
My government is the government of the secular, enlightened public, the government of the upper-middle class from the center of the country, the government of Michaeli-Horowitz-Shaked-Mara'a-Zandberg, the government of Ramat Aviv.
This is an act of marking territory and establishing ownership: Naftali Bennett is the prime minister of Yair Lapid, or rather - the interim prime minister of the Lapid government, which is the Tel Aviv government, and to a large extent the media government.
Because what actually allows Yair Lapid to be photographed as a student on vacation while acting prime minister in a cafe?
Does the reality outside the cafe matter at all?
A reality in which the number of verified Corona is breaking records, hospitals are announcing that they will not be able to accept more patients, cemeteries are forced to contain more and more dead.
A reality where businesses are collapsing and people are financing the expenses of quarantine out of pocket, and the psychosis of the education system is shaking an entire country into unknown chaos.
A reality in which a soldier fought for his life after a violent riot, which we received a minute after arranging the transfer of funds from Qatar and an invitation to visit Cairo.
The fourth wave raises a cruel and dangerous head, and the next round of fumes in Gaza are already being carried in the air.
But for all this you will find almost no echoes in the media, which keeps this government alive through camouflage paints.
Bennett's image from Washington responds to this as well: for what seems like hedonistic and privileged frivolity, Bennett presents a picture of national mission and reverence.
Do not only the conceptual differences emerge between these two images, but also a substantial and deep tension between the two prime ministers of Israel?
There is one person who has an answer to this.
He is a reputed and renowned journalist, and these days he mediates between Bennett and Lapid, conveying messages between the two, and maintaining the relationship.
Has an open conflict already arisen between the two, despite the idyllic tweets and the "we came to work" statements?
Not sure.
But one thing is for sure: the mediator running between the two has plenty of work to do these days - and no wonder he comes from the media world.
After all, this is the media government.