Ten months under Israel's new government have passed and we can state that the Bennett-Lapid coalition has emerged from the long shadow of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and conducting a different and independent foreign policy.

Israel’s foreign policy as of March 2022 is managed by two people — Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid — with ostensibly opposite worldviews regarding the Palestinian dispute.

In its early months, the Bennett-Lapid government revived previously frozen relations with the Palestinians. When signing the Abraham Accords, Netanyahu boasted of sidelining the Palestinians and making peace in the region without them. Since the new government was established, Israeli ministers have conducted a series of meetings with Palestinian counterparts including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The government has also put a lot of effort into warming contacts with the new Democratic administration in the United States.  

The change is ever more apparent on other international fronts, such as Israel extending a hand to Turkey and Lapid's efforts to renew dialogue with the European Union. But Israel's main struggle is over Iranian nuclearization. The Israeli leadership has changed course on handling this issue vis-à-vis the international community and the Americans, giving the United States space to conduct the negotiations in Vienna. These negotiations could soon end with a new agreement that will be bad for Israeli interests.