As Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tries to fill the enormous shoes of his predecessor, he will be measured against Benjamin Netanyahu's major foreign accomplishments. On the diplomatic front, the ex-prime minister negotiated and signed the Abraham Accords with four Muslim states. On the economic side, he improved economic relations with numerous countries and markets, raising Israel’s ranking among the developed nations by every economic metric.

In particular, Israel's trade grew significantly over the last few years with India. This can be attributed to the cordial relations between Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was elected in 2014. When Modi visited Israel in 2017, he and Netanyahu were photographed together walking barefoot on the beach. More importantly, they reached multiple agreements between their two countries, many of which were signed formally the following year, when Netanyahu visited India — including the revival of a $500 million deal to sell Israeli missiles to India. 

At first, Bennett left foreign policy to his partner and colleague Yair Lapid, who serves as foreign minister and alternate prime minister. Lapid first visited the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and, most importantly, the United States, before Bennett’s Aug. 27 state visit there.

Bennett's first priorities were dealing with the coronavirus crisis and passing the budget. In the last few months, however, Bennett has increased his involvement in foreign affairs, as evidenced by his meeting with President Joe Biden, his address to the United Nations’ General Assembly in New York, and his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia, which lasted much longer than anticipated. In fact, Putin made it a personal mission to assist Bennett and his entourage, when they were forced, as a result, to remain in Sochi over the Sabbath.