Israel’s foreign minister: 'We welcomed the agreement with Syria'

For more than a year, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs waited for the return of Avigdor Liberman. Both sides — the minister who suspended himself after being pressed with criminal charges and the ministry run by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and later by Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin during Liberman’s absence — exemplified great patience.

Both sides suffered quite a bit during that period. Liberman fought tooth and nail for his political life, consoling himself with the prestigious position of chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. He missed the powerful position that he had managed to use as a leverage, profoundly and significantly changing his image throughout diplomatic parlors across the globe. On the other hand, the Foreign Ministry was losing its relevance. Through salami slicing, many of its purviews and functions were stripped away. Netanyahu was not really interested in what was going on there, and Elkin — who had taken office only 10 months earlier — was unable to preserve the little that was left, demonstrating poor performance.

Liberman’s return to the Foreign Ministry on Nov. 12 heralded the reunion between two lovers who had been separated by brute force. Liberman was moved to see that even the pen he had left behind on his desk remained untouched. Senior ministry officials who have high regard for him, his management skills and his ability to exercise power received him with open arms, expressing hope that he would reinstate the ministry’s former glory, purviews, influence and relevance.

On Dec. 2, Liberman traveled with Netanyahu for a work visit to Rome. From there, he took off for Washington, where he will spend this week meeting with senior administration officials, including US Secretary of State John Kerry. From Washington he will dash to Moscow, a trip that is no coincidence. Liberman gingerly straddles these two capitals.