Jared Kushner briefed Jake Sullivan, the new national security adviser, on the Trump administration’s Middle East policies, David Friedman, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Israel, told a closed-door hearing in parliament on Monday Israeli.
Why it’s important: Friedman said Kushner had specifically informed Sullivan about the process of the Abraham Accords by which four Arab countries have normalized relations with Israel, according to lawmakers who attended the hearing. Trump advisers hope President-elect Biden will continue this process and encourage other countries such as Saudi Arabia to sign up.
Leading the news: The call came about two weeks ago, several days before Kushner traveled to Saudi Arabia to hold a summit of Gulf leaders. It is unclear whether Kushner sent a message from Sullivan to any of the leaders.
- A White House envoy, Avi Berkowitz, also informed a former Obama administration official that he could be in the line of doing Middle East-related work under Biden on standardization agreements, I says a Trump administration official.
- According to Israeli lawmakers who attended Monday’s briefing, Friedman said he recently met with his Obama-era predecessor, Dan Shapiro, and briefed him on the Trump administration’s work on the Middle East for the last four years. Shapiro made it clear to Friedman at the meeting that he was not part of Biden’s transition team.
Behind the scenes: Friedman presented to the Knesset’s foreign affairs committee his thoughts on what the Biden administration will and should do regarding Israel and the region, say lawmakers who attended the conference.
- Friedman said Biden is a friend of Israel. He also said he hopes the Biden administration will put pressure on Israel on the issue of West Bank settlements, resume aid to the Palestinian Authority, and continue to increase Israel’s ties with China, an issue Friedman said Israel it should be taken more seriously.
Friedman also told Biden it would probably try to reactivate Iran’s nuclear deal.
- He specifically expressed concern about the influence of former Secretary of State John Kerry and former national security adviser Susan Rice on Biden’s Iranian policy, although neither will work in Iran’s portfolio. say an Israeli lawmaker.
- Friedman said Israel should not seek an immediate confrontation with Biden over Iran, but should ask the Biden administration to initiate a dialogue with Israel, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries before deciding to return. nuclear deal.
Not surprisingly, Friedman said Biden shouldn’t backtrack on Trump’s policies on Jerusalem or Israeli sovereignty to the Golan Heights. He also claimed that a fight with Israel for the settlements would lead nowhere.
- Friedman claimed that Saudi Arabia would have recognized Israel in a year if Trump had won re-election.
- But he did have criticism in his head, saying Trump’s relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had occasionally been “too warm” and that Biden would be more critical of Turkey.
In depth: Netanyahu demands full control over Israel’s Iranian policy, causing a setback.