Olmert to Bennett: Your job isn’t to prove you’re more Right than Bibi
Incoming prime minister Bennett’s “job is to bring calm and not fall for the provocations and violence of Likud,” Olmert said.
By LAHAV HARKOVUpdated: JUNE 13, 2021 20:08Defense Minister Naftali Bennett and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Did Bennett teach Netanyahu a lesson this week? (photo credit: ATEF SAFADI/POOL VIA REUTERS)
As Prime Minister Naftali Bennett enters office and Benjamin Netanyahu heads to the opposition, the latter is not expected to hold a meeting with the former to help him get ready for his new job.So The Jerusalem Post reached out to someone who has been there before: former prime minister and current Post columnist Ehud Olmert.Not only is Olmert one of two living former prime ministers of Israel, he also faced off against Netanyahu as opposition leader from 2006-2009.In addition, Olmert left his decades-long political home of the Likud, along with then-prime minister Ariel Sharon, in 2006 to found the Kadima Party, leaving the Right for a Center-Left position in favor of territorial concessions.Bennett has not shifted his policy positions, but he represents the right flank in a coalition that includes left-wing parties Labor and Meretz, as well as Islamist party Ra’am.Bennett’s “job is to bring calm and not fall for the provocations and violence of Likud,” Olmert said. “Bibi’s method is that anyone who is not with him is called Left; the Left are traitors who want to destroy the country. So if you’re not with Bibi, you want to destroy the country and must be gotten rid of in any way possible. That’s how Bibi behaves; it’s not new.”Recalling his own experiences, Olmert said: “It didn’t impress me when I was prime minister and doesn’t impress me today.”Olmert expressed concerns about the policy implications of Bennett trying to one-up Netanyahu on being right-wing.“I would recommend to him not to make declarations that are meant to satisfy the right-wing camp and the thugs of Likud and others – mainly not to say things that can emphasize the gaps between himself and the US,” said the former prime minister.When it comes to Iran, Olmert said Netanyahu “talked and talked, and nothing happened in the end. We caused a lot of damage to ourselves on this matter. Bibi did it, and Bennett’s problem is that since he’s in a coalition with Ra’am, Meretz and others, there is a natural concern he will be seen by the right-wing base that he turned into a left-winger. And to prove it’s not true, he will make all kinds of declarations.”
“Don’t do it,” Olmert warned. “Take a deep breath, calm down, and don’t follow in Bibi’s footsteps in the argument with America. It’s not necessary and can hurt [Bennett’s] ability to function.”Bennett needs a “totally different” relationship with the US, Olmert said, and he should visit Washington soon to privately discuss Israel’s security needs with US President Joe Biden.Ehud Barak, the other living former prime minister of Israel, declined to comment.
