Why Bibi used Paris climate talks to focus on terrorism, not environment

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Paris on the morning of Nov. 30 and left that evening. Rushing from one meeting to another, he barely had time to make a speech at the COP21 climate conference or hold bilateral talks there with French President Francois Hollande, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the prime ministers of Australia, Japan and Poland. He spoke with US President Barack Obama briefly in the corridor as both men walked to the conference hall, but did not meet with any Arab leader, at least not officially. Israeli diplomats confirmed to Al-Monitor that Netanyahu requested no such meeting. Talking to Israeli correspondents, Netanyahu recounted that he shook hands with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and spoke briefly to some Arab leaders, but refrained from mentioning them by name.

The Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris created a new reality. In the hours and days following the attacks, the French leadership had to make up its mind which public events would be maintained and which to cancel. No one envisaged canceling the COP21 climate summit. Too much effort had been invested in organizing it; too many negotiations took place to prepare this international meeting; and too many leaders (147 in all) and journalists (more than 3,000) were about to arrive. Obama and Putin were coming, as was Chinese President Xi Jinping. The climate change conference became, at least partially, a vote of confidence in France's ability to guarantee the safety of all the summit's participants.