Surprising meeting in Russia: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett flew on Saturday for talks with Kremlin despot Vladimir Putin! And: After that he made his way to Berlin to see Chancellor Scholz!
By Philip Fabian
It was only in the evening that the first Israeli media found out about Bennett’s trip to Moscow and spoke of a “secret trip”. Shortly thereafter, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke of Bennett’s short working visit to Moscow, saying only: “The situation around Ukraine was discussed”. There will be no Kremlin communication on this.
Bennett’s office, on the other hand, was able to learn more: It stated that the meeting lasted two and a half hours and that Israel’s prime minister had already flown to Moscow in the early hours of the morning – a sign that it must have been very important, because of his religious beliefs he is only allowed to travel on a Saturday, the Jewish Shabbat, if it is about saving human life.
︎ Bennett was accompanied by his Housing Minister Seew Elkin, who is from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv comes from, where his brother and other relatives still live today. Elkin speaks Russian and is considered a Putin expert, as he has often been present when Bennett’s predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu met Putin in recent years.
︎ The “Jerusalem Post” also wrote, citing Israeli government officials, that the USA, Germany and France were privy to the Bennett trip and supported it.
▶︎ Later, the next hammer: Bennett is on his way to Berlin, meets Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The two met in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Will Israel mediate between Russia and Ukraine?
This possibility is already being discussed: according to media reports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj Bennett is said to have asked Bennett to hold negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Israel a week ago.
Nevertheless: Israel is considered a country with good relations with both countries. This image is somewhat deceptive, as it simply depends on Putin’s goodwill in vital matters:
︎ The Kremlin ruler allows Israel to attack positions of the terrorist militia Hezbollah in Lebanon – even though Hezbollah is fighting for Iran and Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad – the Putin puppet in Syria, where the Russian army is located.
︎ Perhaps even more important for Israel: Russia is with them nuclear negotiations with Iran at the table and sets new conditions there. In principle, Russia wants Iran to have the nuclear bomb and ideally wants to supply the necessary equipment itself.
Putin is probably asking Israel not to deliver weapons to Ukraine. According to media reports, Israel Prime Minister Bennett had already rejected a corresponding request from Ukraine Prime Minister Selenskyj.
According to information from Kyiv, new negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are only planned for next Monday, as the head of the Ukrainian delegation, David Arakhamija, wrote on Facebook on Saturday evening. Russia did not confirm this.