When Bennett takes Netanyahu's stage at the United Nations - analysis

• Published date: 26 September 2021
• Author: GIL HOFFMAN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Those shoes were impossible to fill.

Naftali Bennett stepped right into the Prime Minister's Office with no on-the-job training or even a proper meeting with his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, which has had its pluses and minuses.

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When it comes to international diplomacy, being Netanyahu's successor has mostly helped Bennett, because the world leaders he met – starting with Jordanian King Abdullah – were so glad that Netanyahu was finally gone. The headline on the bottom of the screen when Bennett met with US President Joe Biden was "President meets with Israeli leader who is not Netanyahu."

But when Bennett delivers the annual speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, he will come with a disadvantage, because that was Netanyahu's greatest stage to showcase his talent. That was where Netanyahu was at his best in making Israel's case to the world.

It was where Netanyahu effectively used his props of maps of Tehran and Beirut, a bomb with a red line and the architectural plans for Auschwitz. Bennett's advisers stressed that he would not be bringing any props.

They failed to acknowledge, however, that the props were never the headline but the means of attracting the world's attention to the headline. Last year, Netanyahu used the speech to reveal Hezbollah's secret arms depot in Beirut near the site of the port explosion that killed 200 people. In 2018, he told the international community about a secret atomic warehouse in Tehran. He told the world four years ago that he would make peace with Arab countries, and no one believed him, but they listened.

CNN and Fox broadcasted Netanyahu's speeches live, because they knew there would be drama and headlines. At a conference where the top headline so far has come from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson mocking Kermit the Frog, it will be hard for Bennett to capture the world's attention if his only gimmick is not being Netanyahu.

Despite those challenging circumstances, this will be Bennett's best opportunity to introduce himself to the international community and tell his fellow world leaders who he is, and not only who he is not. He will get ample time to explain what he believes in and what he is trying to accomplish in his time as prime minister.

Then again, perhaps like other world leaders, his target...