What can we see in Biden-Bennett meeting?
CGTN
On August 27, U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet met for the first time at the White House. Although there are differences between the two on Iran and Palestine, the two leaders were keen to stress the closeness of their two countries and their common commitment towards each other. As part of this effort, Biden was very clear in declaring his support for Israel to maintain its advantage over other regional militaries, stating that the U.S. would replenish Israel's Iron Dome air-defense system.
That news was welcome for Bennett. He is the first Israeli prime minister since 2009 to visit Washington who is not Benjamin Netanyahu. During the time that Netanyahu was in office, he behaved in an increasingly partisan manner: he openly favored Republican presidents like Donald Trump over Democrats like Barack Obama. Bennett was therefore keen to use the meeting to show that those days are over and that unlike Netanyahu, he can be a constructive partner to Biden.
Of the two, the meeting was probably more important for Bennett than it was for Biden. Because Bennett comes from the same political space as Netanyahu and has served the former prime minister as his chief of staff and as a former minister in his government, he needed to show that he is his own man.
