It seems that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's visit to the White House went well, given the circumstances – Israel's immature and politically weak leader and the experienced US president engrossed in other thoughts and his catastrophic failure in Afghanistan.
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Looking at it from Israel's perspective, one can even go as far as to say that the meeting was a success. Everyone who cares about Israel should rejoice that Joe Biden encouraged Bennett not to hesitate and reach out to him if a problem arises.
Bennett has passed the Washington test, but his greatest challenge awaits him after the Knesset approves the state budget.
Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urge Israel's strange government to exhibit political stability. That is why the US president has agreed to postpone the reopening of the Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem and temporarily turn a blind eye to construction in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria. All these issues, as well as many others, will explode as soon as the future of the current Israeli government is secured.
However, there are challenges that wait for no one. Bennett and his men are taking Biden at his word that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon on his watch. Bennett should not trust this promise, even if Biden assured that if all diplomatic efforts with Iran failed, he would be willing to look at other options.
History has taught us that the United States is not omnipotent. Our ally, the superpower, has just suffered a global humiliation in Afghanistan. This is the same America that vowed to prevent Pakistan and North Korea from gaining nuclear weapons but failed. America's story in Iraq is also far from successful.
Iran is pretty much the boss in Iraq, which brings us to the most pressing threat. While we rejoice at Biden's cordial welcome of Bennett, our enemies have good reasons to think that now is their time to act. According to Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Tehran is a mere seven weeks away from obtaining enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb. Will Biden be able to halt Iran in its tracks?
Our greatest ally is weaker than ever. Washington is begging Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to renew the 2015 nuclear agreement but to no avail. China is behind Raisi, Afghanistan is over him and Iraq, Syria and Lebanon are at his feet.
Even Saudi Arabia, which opposes the Islamic republic, is distancing itself from the US, and last week signed a security cooperation agreement with Russia – America's greatest global opponent. This is bad news. What is even worse is that Washington has no response to these developments.
Ours is an unstable and inexperienced government that relies on forces that seek to destroy the Jewish state. Law enforcement is complacent in the face of a nationalist-criminal volcano – armed with firearms – that geographically speaking already controls most of Israel. Hamas keeps firing rockets and incendiary balloons at Israel and ridicules Bennett's claims of having solved the arson balloon problem. Hezbollah has also targeted Israel, but we kept quiet.
Let us remember that this is how Tehran perceives the current situation. Judgment day may be upon us, and not because Rosh Hashanah is next week. There are just too many negative vectors that could catch us by surprise.
This should be Bennett's working premise instead of trusting the US president's statements. After all, how can one rely on someone who had failed to name the Israeli prime minister even once.
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