Thread by @AnshelPfeffer

As ⁦@naftalibennett⁩ heads to #COP26, some highlights from my interview with him in ⁦@thetimes⁩
Bennett declared victory over Covid and claimed that by not taking Israel into a 4th lockdown, he saved/made 10s of billions for Israeli Treasury > thetimes.co.uk/article/naftal…

Part of the funds now at Israel’s disposal Bennett intends to spend in rearmament against Iran. His historic analogy is Reagan in the Cold War. He believes that like the USSR, Tehran can be outspent and out-teched by Israel into submission “Reagan didn’t have to bomb Moscow!”>

In general, Bennett believes Israeli tech the answer to most problems, including climate change. “Half the solution is changing our behavior. The other half is things yet to be invented.” He hopes to convince Israeli entrepreneurs to shift from developing video-apps to greentech>

Likewise he sees Israeli tech as the base for relations in the region with networks of solar-energy fields linked to desalination plants. He claims that Arab leaders he speaks with mentions the Palestinians as “just another item” but focus mainly on “water, trade and stability” >

The 2 words Bennett tried hard not to use in the interview were “Palestinians” who according to him will have to make do with economic inducements, because the Arab world isn’t interested in them and the condemnations from western governments are “expected” but not damaging >

The other word Bennett managed not to say at all in 80 minutes of interview was “Netanyahu” whose become he-who-must-not-be-mentioned. Instead Bennett speaks of “my predecessors policies” and “the machine warping everything our government does.” That doesn’t mean Bibi was absent>

Bennett is fully aware how relieved his interlocutors abroad were to see Netanyahu leave and he’s marketing his ideologically diverse government as a global model for facing the global pandemic of political polarization that… creates paralysis in the face of threats like Covid”>

Overall, Bennett tries to project the image of a pragmatic, problem-solving, right-wing liberal. “In cabinet I work with people whom I never believed I’d be in a dialog with. Not only does the dialogue work, but there are things we couldn’t do otherwise.”
thetimes.co.uk/article/naftal…