Lapid to take lead over Bennett on foreign ties, peace with Arab states

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett plans to focus on his domestic agenda, at least at first, a source close to the new premier said. Any diplomatic decision or statement Bennett makes will have to be coordinated in advance with Lapid because of the delicate rotation government they formed on Sunday.

Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu led Israel’s foreign policy throughout his time in office, often keeping key information from the Foreign Ministry. He also served as foreign minister at the same time as prime minister in 2012 and 2015-2019.

In his transition ceremony with former foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi on Monday, Lapid said the Foreign Ministry would be in charge of normalizing relations between Israel and Arab states, following last year’s Abraham Accords.

“Great things have happened this past year,” he said. “We need to continue the development that started with the Abraham Accords, to work to strengthen the peace with the Gulf States, with Egypt and with Jordan. We will work to sign agreements with more countries in the region and beyond. It’s a process; it won’t happen in a day. But the Foreign Ministry will coordinate those efforts.”

Netanyahu did not inform Ashkenazi until moments before the announcement that Israel had made peace with the United Arab Emirates last August. But after that, Ashkenazi met with his Emirati and Bahraini counterparts, and the Foreign Ministry worked on cultivating the relations.

“Jordan is an important strategic ally,” Lapid said. “King Abdullah is an important regional leader and a strategic ally. We will work with him and strengthen the relationship between our countries.”

He referred to “recent reports” about Jordan, likely a Washington Post report that claimed Netanyahu was involved in attempts to weaken Abdullah because he and former US president Donald Trump preferred to get closer with Saudi Arabia.

Lapid said he and Bennett would work together to “do whatever it takes to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb.” With the US and Iran indirectly negotiating a return to the 2015 nuclear agreement, Israel must “prepare quickly,” he said.

“It was a bad deal,” he added. “I opposed it. I still oppose it. Israel could have, with a different approach, influenced it far more.”

Referring to the recent fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Lapid said: “The world doesn’t always understand the conditions in which Israel operates. We’ll try to change that… Faced with the disgraceful propaganda against us, we will need to make clear to the world that we are fighting a sick terrorist organization that has no problem firing rockets from kindergartens and schools.”

Israel will respond forcefully to any rocket attack, Lapid said.

“Hamas is the only one responsible for the death of innocent civilians,” he said. “And still, it is not weakness to admit that our hearts break for every child who dies in conflict. Children don’t need to die in the wars of adults.”

The first foreign-policy issue Lapid addressed in his remarks was restoring relations between Israel and the Democratic Party in the US. Democrats are in the White House and control the Senate and House of Representatives, he said.

“I’ve warned against it more than once, but the outgoing government took a terrible gamble, reckless and dangerous, to focus exclusively on the Republican Party and abandon Israel’s bipartisan standing,” he said. “The Republicans are important to us. Their friendship is important to us, but not only the friendship of the Republican Party.”

Lapid said he spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and they both think it is imperative to have US-Israel ties be based on mutual respect and improved dialogue.

He also called for strengthening ties with Diaspora Jewry.

“The support of Christian evangelicals and other groups is important and heartwarming,” he said. “But the Jewish people are more than allies; they are family. Jews from all streams – Reform, Conservative and Orthodox – are our family. And family is always the most important relationship and the one that needs to be worked on more than any other.”

Regarding relations with Europe, Lapid, who once called Sweden’s foreign minister an antisemite at a rally in Stockholm, quipped: “Shouting that everyone is antisemitic isn’t a policy or a work plan, even if it sometimes feels right.”

Lapid said he and French President Emmanuel Macron, with whom he has had a years-long friendship, exchanged text messages and that he spoke with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, and they agreed to deepen Israel-Europe ties.

Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Roll will lead the process of integrating the Strategic Affairs Ministry back into the Foreign Ministry, which will manage the fight against BDS and the delegitimization of Israel, he said.

Smiling warmly, Lapid told Foreign Ministry officials he really wanted his new job, and he made every effort to get it.

“I believe we will do great things together… I’m happy to be here with you,” Lapid said. “I’ve waited for this a long time.”