A tale of two handshakes: Bibi vs. Bennett

• Published date: 04 October 2021
• Author: GIL HOFFMAN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

In his speech at the event, Netanyahu hinted for the first time that he would be ready to rotate with Gantz as prime minister.

"[Peres] and Shamir agreed to cooperate," Netanyahu said in his address.

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Two years later, Netanyahu raised eyebrows by shaking hands with his successor, Naftali Bennett, at Peres's fifth memorial.

But while the first handshake was remembered as the catalyst of the government that initially ended the deadlock, there are no such expectations from Peres memorial handshake number two.

Several hours later, Bennett shook the hand of Netanyahu's number two in Likud, Yuli Edelstein, in the Knesset plenum, and there was no handshake with Netanyahu, who sits next to Edelstein and spoke immediately after Bennett.

Bennett and Netanyahu have not held the monthly meetings for security briefings that they are required to hold as prime minister and opposition leader. The closest thing to private meetings they have had are those that have taken place when a new Knesset session begins, together with the president and Knesset speaker.

A participant in both meetings said the first meeting was "scary" and the two prime ministers ignored each other completely, while in the second they behaved cordially and professionally. But Netanyahu still did not refer to Bennett as prime minister in his Knesset speech when...