Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tried to play the role of mediator between Russia and Ukraine by making a surprise visit to Moscow on Sunday. Bennett, who has been in charge of Israel for less than a year, has not been extensively tested on the world stage. They have put Israel in an uncomfortable position between Russia and Ukraine and are looking at the role of a diplomatic effort.
Israel relies on ties with the Kremlin for security coordination in Syria. At the same time, Moscow is sitting at the negotiating table with Tehran regarding Iran’s nuclear program. In such a situation, Israel cannot anger Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Bennett has reportedly expressed his support to the citizens of Ukraine and has stopped condemning the Russian invasion. Despite increasing Western sanctions on Russia, Bennett has maintained contact with Putin and the Ukrainian president.
“Bennett has reinvented himself,” said Esther Lopatin, a specialist in European affairs at Tel Aviv University. Israel is one of the few countries that have working relations with both Russia and Ukraine.
Hours after returning from his trip, Bennett told his cabinet that it was Israel’s moral duty to act, ‘even if the occasion was not very good. Having been a beneficiary of international arbitration, he was moving towards becoming an arbitrator.
Vera Michlin-Shapir, a former official of Israel’s National Security Council and author of “Fluid Russia”, a book about the country’s national identity, said, “It looks like there is a chance because no one is talking to Putin.” Used to be. Israel is a player who can talk to both sides. But what happens next?’
Commentator Barack Ravid wrote on the Israeli Walla news site: “On the one hand, he (Bennett) has overnight improved his international standing and scored a lot of political points within Israel. On the other hand, he is taking a great risk not only for himself as a politician but also for the State of Israel and its position in the world. Without the prime minister fully knowing how deep it is, the Ukrainians have descended into the mud.
