Egypt’s embrace of Bennett highlights divisions in Israeli cabinet
While coalition partners from the center and left congratulated Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on his meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, figures on the right are busy criticizing him over Gaza.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi rolled out the red carpet for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett Sept. 13. The meeting, which took place at the Presidential Compound in the Sinai resort town of Sharm al-Sheikh, was warm and friendly by any standard.
While the meeting was going on, however, a stabbing took place in the crowded shopping area of Jerusalem’s Central Bus Station. Two yeshiva students were moderately injured in the attack. The perpetrator, a young Palestinian man from Hebron, was taken into custody.
News stations reporting on the successful meeting between Sisi and Bennett cut to the scene of the attack. Though the incident ended without any deaths, it fueled worry that Israel and the Palestinians are headed toward an escalation of violence.
The stabbing interfered with media attention on Bennett's state visit, during which the press was supposed to focus exclusively on Egypt’s many public gestures toward Israel. For one, the Israeli flag flew right beside the Egyptian flag. The press made a point of noting that former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu never received such gestures from the Egyptians.
