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Bennett is drifting towards a biblical policy on Iran, Israel may be left behind again
Three months after he promised President Biden that he would not run a public campaign against a US return to the nuclear deal, the prime minister appears to be slowly returning to the style of his predecessor in office.
This is happening while the Americans are shrouded in skepticism ahead of the resumption of talks with Iran next week
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Naftali Bennett
Joe Biden
Benjamin Netanyahu
Lightning Ravid
Wednesday, 24 November 2021, 06:40
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In the video: The main points of Prime Minister Bennett's speech at the UN General Assembly (Photo: Reuters and GPO)
One of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's key messages in his first meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House in late August was that he did not intend to campaign publicly against a US return to the nuclear deal with Iran, unlike his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu, and that he would focus on intimate and quiet dialogue with the administration.
This promise to Biden lasted only three months.
In the last two weeks, it seems that Bennett is slowly returning to the same system of work that characterized Netanyahu vis-à-vis the Obama administration.
It started last week when Bennett and his advisers briefed journalists against the US envoy on the issue of Iran Rob Mali ahead of his visit to Israel.
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Loses his composure.
Bennett (Photo: Government Press Office, Amos Ben Gershom)
Bennett even asked Foreign Minister Yair Lapid not to meet with the US envoy. An Israeli source close to the details said that Lapid rejected the request and told Bennett that he was not worried about criticism that would be leveled at him by the opposition. "For two years I worked to get Netanyahu out of the prime minister's office and replace him. I do not intend now to refrain from doing things for fear that he will criticize me," Lapid told Bennett.
Yesterday (Tuesday), Bennett continued along the same lines when he said in a public speech that in light of the resumption of nuclear talks with Iran, there may be a dispute with the United States and other allies of Israel. He said that if there was a return to the agreement, Israel would not be committed to it and would maintain its freedom of action.
This was an implicit threat that Israel might attack Iran's nuclear facilities even after the renewal of the nuclear deal.
It is difficult to see such a scenario materializing despite the threats that Bennett is spreading.
The fact that Benjamin Netanyahu did not order a military attack on Iran after the signing of the nuclear deal in 2015 did not stem from slackness or falling asleep on guard as Bennett argued in his speech, but from an understanding that such a move would isolate Israel and serve Iranian interest.
Netanyahu.
September, 2019 (Photo: Reuven Castro)
It is not clear what causes Bennett to lose his temper and change a policy he decided on only a hundred days ago. Biden officials directly involved in negotiations with Iran said they were very skeptical any progress will begin round of talks in Vienna on November 29. They said that Washington observers is that the Iranians will extreme positions and that the talks will be short and will spread out after only a day or two.
A senior Israeli official said Because Bennett's remarks stemmed from Israel's fear that due to the difficulty of returning to the 2015 nuclear deal the United States would seek an interim agreement with the Iranians, as reported in Walla! Last week. "It's really not like Bibi," the senior Israeli official said. And in any case, we will not cut off contact with the Americans. If necessary, we will sit in the room and argue. "
Bennett's conduct is received in Washington by raising an eyebrow.
U.S. officials have identified a mismatch between the style of the prime minister's public remarks and the style of messages they hear in closed-door talks with National Security Adviser Eyal Hulta.
In his speech on Tuesday, Bennett sharply criticized Netanyahu's legacy left to him on the Iranian issue.
It is therefore not clear why he insists on gradually adopting his policies and rhetoric.
Netanyahu's handling of the Iranian nuclear issue during Obama's tenure has made Israel irrelevant and unaffected by US policy on the Iranian issue.
Bennett's conduct over the past two weeks could bring Israel into the same situation during Biden's tenure.
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