On January 19, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion titled “The New Government of Israel: Where Will the Foreign Policy Pendulum Swing?” The discussion moderator Ivan Timofeev, Programme Director of the Valdai Club, invited participants to discuss the impact of the recent snap elections to the Knesset and the return of Benjamin Netanyahu to the post of Prime Minister on Israel’s foreign policy and Israel’s relations with Russia and other key players.
Anatoly Viktorov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the State of Israel, said that Russia is counting on the development of traditional partnership with Israel under the new Israeli government and hopes that its foreign policy will be pragmatic and independent. “We are always open to constructive interaction in the interests of strengthening and expanding multifaceted and mutually beneficial Russian-Israeli cooperation,” he said. “Today, our countries need to look ahead and support the agreements reached over the past thirty years in the economic sphere and the interaction between our peoples.” The ambassador also praised the balanced position of the Israeli authorities on the Ukrainian crisis and stressed the failure of any attempts by Western countries to exclude Russia from the process of settling Middle East conflicts.
Daniel Levy, US/Middle East Project President, noted that the stability of the new Israeli government is still under question and that the polarisation in Israeli society may continue to grow. He suggested that the new government would likely pursue a radical and tough policy on the Palestinian issue. Speaking about relations with the United States, he noted that Washington is demanding that Israel respond to geostrategic challenges the way the Americans want it, but this can cause problems. “The question arises: will Netanyahu be able to cope with the various challenges that he faces? These are relations with the United States and Iran, and the results of a tough policy towards Palestine, and maintaining good relations with Moscow. I think that in the new geopolitical reality it will be even more difficult,” the analyst concluded.
Irina Zvyagelskaya, Head of the Middle East Studies Sector at IMEMO RAS, Chief Researcher at the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS, briefly analysed a number of issues in Israel’s domestic policy. She pointed out that this is probably the first radical right-wing government in Israeli history with enough votes in the Knesset to control it. Compared to its coalition partners, the Likud party looks like the main moderate and pragmatic force. “The problem is that Netanyahu’s victory once again emphasizes not only his talents as a politician, but also the crisis of the Israeli elite as a whole, because there were simply no political figures comparable to him on different flanks,” Zvyagelskaya believes.
