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| Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; Prime Minister Naftali Bennett; and Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Composite/AP) |
TEL AVIV, Israel - With his surprise visit to Moscow on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is assuming the doubtful part of middleman between Russia and Ukraine. Bennett, who has piloted the country for lower than a time and is largely untested on the world stage, deposited Israel in an uncomfortable middle ground between Russia and Ukraine in the lead up to the war, creating a launching pad from which to crop as a player in politic sweats.
But wading into transnational agreement in the midst of war could be a minefield for Israel. It's on its ties with the Kremlin for security collaboration in Syria, and with Moscow sitting at the negotiating table with Iran over its nuclear program, Israel can not go to incense President Vladimir Putin. What is further, it's unclear whether the sweats, said to have been coordinated with theU.S., will bear fruit.
Bennett's Bet
Bennett came to power last time as part of a pact by eight ideologically distant parties bent on ousting former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A religious Jew who made millions in the country's hi-tech sector, Bennett has served in colorful Cabinet positions in the history but lacks the seductiveness and the transnational experience of his precursor. Interceding between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Putin, a former KGB agent, will test him like noway ahead.
Opponents at home see Bennett's rule as illegitimate because they disapprove of the way he was brought to power and public opinion has in recent months not been in his favor. Fresh review mounted in the lead-up to Russia's war with Ukraine over Bennett's hesitance to stricture Russia — breaking with Israel's abettors in the West who were stepping up warrants.
While Bennett constantly expressed his support for the Ukrainian people, he stopped suddenly of condemning Russia's irruption. As Western warrants mounted, Bennett was maintaining contact with both Putin and Zelenskyy, who reportedly asked Bennett to begin interceding between the sides. With his visit to Moscow, he came the only Western leader to meet the Russian chairman since the war erupted.
His involvement in such a high- profile, high stakes conflict could breathe life into his political fortunes. “ Bennett has reinvented himself,” said Esther Lopatin, a European affairs expert at Tel Aviv University. “ Then’s someone who was suffering in pates, who was facing public review. Turns out he can pull rabbits out of his chapeau.”
A Politic Minefield
Israel is one of the many countries that has good working relations with both Russia and Ukraine. It has delivered 100 tons of philanthropic aid to the country and has blazoned it'll be setting up a field sanitarium there. Ukraine is also home to some Jews, hundreds of whom have formerly fled to Israel, with numerous further anticipated.
But Israel's ties with Russia are of strategic significance. Israel relies on Russia for security collaboration in Syria, where Russia has a military presence and where Israeli spurts have constantly struck targets said to be munitions caches fated for Israel's adversaries.
Russia is also among the powers negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program in Vienna, where a deal is imminent. Israel opposes the deal, saying it does not adequately restrain Iran's nuclear conditioning and has bandied that opposition with Russia constantly in the history. Still, Israel will have to maintain that neutral position, breaking from the West, If Israel's outreach morphs into outright agreement. Any wrong move and relations with Putin couldsour.However, Bennett could appear to have been outwitted by Putin's cunning and could be criticized for the conflict having worsened, If addresses fail.
And as one of the only Western- confederated countries that has not engaged in openly hostile rhetoric toward Moscow, Israel will be the West's main politic link to the Kremlin, a high- pressure, delicate position.
Chances for Success?
Hours after returning from his trip, Bennett told his Cabinet that it was Israel's moral duty to step by, “ indeed if the chance isn't great.” With that, a country that has traditionally been a devisee of transnational agreement with the Palestinians and Arab nations was inching toward getting the middleman.
“ There is a feeling that there's an opening, that no bone is talking to Putin. Israel is a player who can talk to both sides,” said Vera Michlin-Shapir, a former functionary at Israel’s National Security Council and the author of “ Fluid Russia,” a book about the country’s public identity. “ But what happens going forward?”
Michlin-Shapir advised that Israel does not inescapably have the politic tools to duly intervene such a complex extremity, no matter the goodwill. Sweats by France and Turkey — bigger players internationally — failed to forestall the conflict.
“ On the one hand, (Bennett) has upgraded his transnational standing overnight and has won a lot of political points within Israel. On the other, he's taking a huge threat, not only for himself as a politician but for the state of Israel and its standing in the world,” judge Barak Ravid wrote on the Israeli Walla News point. “ The high minister has waded into the Ukrainian slush without knowing entirely just how deep it is.”