It was not just because Naftali Bennett is the new kid on the block, having been prime minister for less than five months, that the Israeli leader was the subject of so much fascination at Cop26 this week.
On his first visit to Britain as PM, Mr Bennett prompted widespread interest among other world leaders who are said to have ‘flocked’ to him — primarily because of the story he had to tell about Israel’s experience of tackling Covid-19.
The conference was not, of course, about Covid but climate change. Mr Bennett believes, however, that Israel’s strength in tech and innovation puts it in a strong position also to be a leader in tackling global warming.
His background as a tech entrepreneur has led him to introduce special measures to encourage Israel’s scientists and tech companies to focus on this issue, such as granting exemption from a number of regulations.
