The United States and Israel they have chosen to reunite a strategic working group on Iran, with the first round of talks on intelligence around Iran’s nuclear program expected in the coming days, Axios reported.
Why it’s important: President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have differing views on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, but the resumption of the working group is a sign that their governments are beginning a serious and professional dialogue on place of a political struggle.
Flashback: The working group was set up in the early days of the Obama administration after Netanyahu’s White House visit in 2009. Even secret forum was given a special code name.
- It was the main venue for making strategies on how to apply pressure to Iran during Obama’s first term and became the main stage for issuing disagreements over the nuclear deal during Obama’s second term.
- During Donald Trump’s tenure, the forum met to discuss the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal and coordinate the “maximum pressure” campaign.
- The forum is led by national security advisers from the United States and Israel (currently Jake Sullivan and Meir Ben-Shabbat) and includes senior officials from the various national security, foreign policy and intelligence agencies in both countries.
Driving the news: Sullivan proposed resuming the working group on his first phone call with Ben-Shabbat on Jan. 23.
- Israel was embroiled in an interagency disagreement over how to deal with the White House over Iran, and the decision to accept the proposal was further delayed by Israel’s internal turmoil ahead of next month’s elections. it comes.
Behind the scenes: On Monday, Netanyahu held the first high-level interagency meeting on Iran with Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, and the heads of other national security and intelligence agencies. .
- The meeting began with the various agencies providing updates on their commitments so far with the Biden administration, to provide a full picture of what had been discussed through the various channels, sources familiar with the meeting told me. .
- Then came proposals on how to collaborate with the Biden administration in the future. The directors of the Mossad intelligence agency and the Israeli Defense Forces stressed the need for a calm dialogue, free from public confrontations.
- The main element of action was the decision to accept the proposal to resume the working group.
What follows: Israel’s top priority at the first meeting – which will take place over a secure videoconferencing system – is to present all the latest information and data on Iran’s nuclear program and assess whether U.S. intelligence and intelligence Israelis line up.
- Israeli sources familiar with the matter say a baseline of mutual intelligence should be established before moving on to policy discussions.
The state of play: Netanyahu quickly expressed concern last Friday after Secretary of State Tony Blinken said the United States was ready to start nuclear talks with Iran aimed at restoring the 2015 deal.