Putin hosts Bennett, reminding Israelis that life goes on after Netanyahu

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Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was incensed by a pundit’s suggestion on a Friday night news show that his successor Naftali Bennett somehow received preferential treatment that day when meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi. “The president of Russia met with Prime Minister Netanyahu dozens of times for meetings that went on for many hours,” Netanyahu fumed in a statement sent immediately after Shabbat.

That was followed by an exhaustive list of places where they met, the number of phone conversations they held (“nearly 80”) and a detailed account of diplomatic gains that purportedly were achieved only thanks to Netanyahu’s special relationship with Putin. The most important was “Putin accepting Prime Minister Netanyahu’s request to refrain from intervening in Israel’s air operations in Syria.”

It’s hard to be sure whether Netanyahu believes he actually had a personal relationship with one of the most cynically ruthless world leaders in our lifetimes and that Putin would ever do him any favors outside his own interest. Netanyahu certainly tried to create that impression on Israeli voters when in the second of the four recent election campaigns he plastered billboards with pictures of him and Putin standing together under the slogan “Netanyahu – A Different League.” (There were similar photos with Donald Trump and Narendra Modi.)

But there is no need for anyone else to believe that myth. The truth is, Putin in his 21 years as Russia’s leader has gone out his way to foster good working relations with all of Israel’s leaders. He held regular meetings, at least once a year, with Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon, Shimon Peres and Ehud Olmert long before Netanyahu returned to power in 2009.

Indeed, Putin went to great lengths in hosting Bennett on Friday, conferring with him for five hours, more than twice the scheduled time. This included the meeting with Zeev Elkin, Israel’s Russian-speaking housing minister – and now fierce Netanyahu critic – on hand as Bennett’s translator. Putin also took the prime minister on a tour of his personal residence. But if anything, all this was designed to show that the president intends to work closely with whoever is Israel’s leader.

Putin is of course aware of the way Netanyahu has tried to portray their relationship and is at pains to show that every Israeli prime minister will get the same treatment.

A Likud campaign poster from 2019 hailing Netanyahu’s relations with Putin NIR ELIAS/ REUTERS

The two leaders may have needed a translator, but one language they both speak, especially Putin, is that of power. Putin has long seen Israel as the main regional power in the Middle East and so has sought to keep relations cordial throughout his leadership.

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One vice that Putin doesn’t share with previous Russian autocrats is antisemitism. As a teenager in St. Petersburg, Jews were among his closest friends (some remain in his inner circle to this day) and his talents were first noticed in high school by Jewish teachers who put him on a track of language studies that allowed him to join the KGB, where he built his power base.

In private conversations, Putin has said that a key mistake that contributed to the Soviet Union’s downfall was the leaders’ making enemies out of the Jews. He sees the emigration of 2 million Soviet Jews starting in the late 1980s as a strategic loss for Russia.

For those and other reasons, Putin is eager to cooperate closely with Israel. He’s also keen to keep Israel out of any showdown between Russia and the West.

Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin meeting in Sochi in September 2019.Shamil Zhumatov / Pool / AFP

The same is true of his Syria policy. Netanyahu tried to make the tacit arrangements in Syria – Israel operating against Iranian targets despite the Russian military presence – a concession he managed to win from Putin, when actually it’s in Russia’s interests that Israel do so, balancing out Iran’s expansionary plans. In return, Putin received assurances that Israel will not attack his client, the Assad regime.

If anything, Netanyahu failed to get Putin to fulfill the Russian commitment that Iran won’t be allowed to operate near Israel’s northern borders. Israel can act against the Iranians in southern Syria, but Putin won’t put his own troops in danger to block them. That will remain the policy – it has nothing to do with the identity of Israel’s leader, just Russia’s interests as seen by its president.

The Bennett-Putin summit was clear proof that Israel’s new prime minister will get exactly the same treatment that his predecessor did. Nothing more, but certainly nothing less.