Israel’s prime minister Naftali Bennett makes a surprise trip to Moscow and Berlin

Israel has traditionally maintained good relations with Russia and Ukraine. Prime Minister Bennett surprisingly met the Russian President in Moscow. Now he is expected in Berlin.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made a surprise trip to Moscow as a mediator in the Ukraine war. Bennett met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, a spokesman for Bennett confirmed.

The Israeli Prime Minister will then travel to Berlin to discuss the war in Ukraine with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on Saturday evening. This was reported from German government circles. The meeting was also confirmed by the Bennett office in Israel.

Kremlin confirms talks on ‘situation’

Government circles in Jerusalem said the conversation lasted three hours. Bennett has coordinated with the US, Germany and France and is “in constant communication with Ukraine”. He also spoke to Putin about the situation of the Israelis and the Jewish communities in view of the conflict. According to information from Jerusalem, after the meeting with Putin, Bennett also called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian news agencies, that Putin and Bennett discussed the “situation in Ukraine.”

As a religious Jew, Bennett is only allowed to travel on the Jewish day of rest, the Sabbath, if it is about saving human life. Bennett had phoned Putin and Zelenskyj on Wednesday. Selenskyj, himself of Jewish descent, had recently expressed disappointment at what he believed to be the lack of support from Israel. According to media reports, Bennett had refused Selenskyj’s requests for arms deliveries.

Selenskyj has so far been disappointed with Israeli restraint

Israel is being discussed as a mediator in the Ukraine war. According to media reports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj Bennett is said to have asked Bennett to organize negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Israel a week ago.

According to Bennett’s office, the meeting with Putin was attended by Israeli housing minister Seew Elkin, who is helping with the translation. Elkin comes from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and is considered a Putin expert. He had also always attended meetings between Bennett’s predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Putin.

Israel has good relations with both countries, so it is in a dilemma. It does not want to upset its main ally, the United States, but at the same time depends on Moscow’s goodwill for strategic reasons, including in the conflicts with Syria and Iran. Bennett’s visit to Moscow was the first by a foreign head of state in connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.