Israel’s new government turns 100 days old on Monday, a milestone many thought unreachable. Agreeing on little else besides the necessity of removing former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power, the coalition — marked by inexperience and conflicting ideologies — seemed doomed to fail. At the outset, its partners had stated the coalition’s unwillingness and…
When President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett meet today at the White House, they will have an opportunity to start undoing twelve years of damage and setbacks to the U.S.-Israel alliance. Although major policy disagreements will not evaporate overnight, the gnawing crisis of confidence that has beset the relationship can be quickly overcome….
On his first trip to Washington as Israel’s prime minister, Naftali Bennett met with leaders of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a group that has been criticized in recent years for backing the Israeli government’s right-wing policies. The get-together raised some eyebrows. While it’s common for an Israeli leader to meet with pro-Israel and…
Despite their deep differences on major diplomatic questions, President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett are hoping to set a new tone for U.S.-Israeli relations at the White House Thursday, their first meeting since each took office. They disagree on returning to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and China, but…
Mossi Raz, a member of the Knesset representing the leftist Meretz Party, is frustrated as part of a new Israeli government that, in his view, won’t make progress in the coming years towards ending the occupation of the West Bank and solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “There is no agreement about the policy vis-à-vis the most…
22 years ago, George Birnbaum was at Benjamin Netanyahu’s side as his campaign strategist when the former prime minister lost his first re-election bid. On Sunday, Birnbaum, who was once Netanyahu’s chief of staff, was in the Knesset, watching Netanyahu exit the stage once again. But this time, Birnbaum was signed on to assist the…
Washington doesn’t know Naftali Bennett, the likely next prime minister of Israel. The 49-year-old former settler leader with strong nationalist views supports the permanent Israeli annexation of the West Bank. He’s managed to cobble together an astoundingly diverse coalition that for the first time in Israeli history includes Arab parties. His parents are originally from…
Naftali Bennett, who is on track to become Israel’s 13th prime minister within days, is easily labeled — religious hard-liner, ultranationalist and settler leader on the one hand, high-tech millionaire, special-forces operative and political wunderkind on the other. Most of these labels, on closer scrutiny, don’t really apply. At least not fully. Bennett at 49…
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