Members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner circle are concerned that President-elect Joe Biden has filled his administration with Obama administration veterans, some of whom have had difficult relationships in the past, especially on the Iran.
Why it’s important: The Biden and Netanyahu administrations are in the midst of an early confrontation over Iran’s nuclear deal. Several of Netanyahu’s aides to the Israeli National Security Council have lamented the fact that Biden will be surrounded by “Obama people,” including the architects of the agreement and some of its fiercest advocates.
What they say: Israel’s outgoing ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, has told several interlocutors in Washington that he is concerned about the influence John Kerry and Susan Rice will have on Biden’s foreign policy, according to an Israeli official and a U.S. official.
- Both Kerry and Rice will join the Biden administration, but their new posts have little to do with Iran or Israel. Kerry will be Biden’s climate tsar, while Rice will head the Home Affairs Council.
- As Secretary of State, Kerry maintained a very strained relationship with Netanyahu, mainly because of the Iran nuclear deal and the Palestinian issue.
- As a national security adviser, Rice viewed Dermer essentially as a Republican political agent and once joked that he had not met with him because he was “too busy traveling to the Sheldon Adelson events in Las Vegas.”
The big picture: Relations between Barack Obama, Netanyahu and their respective staff members were strained, especially in Obama’s second term. Biden’s incoming team looks a lot like the Obama team back then.
- But while Netanyahu’s aides are especially concerned about Rice and Kerry’s return, they have had fewer complaints about National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Biden’s selection to head State Department Tony Blinken.
- A Netanyahu adviser told me he was less worried about Kerry and Rice than Wendy Sherman’s long-awaited Biden option as deputy secretary of state. Sherman was the main American negotiator of the agreement with Iran.
Leading the news: Sullivan reiterated on CNN on Sunday that Biden intends to return to the deal if Iran fulfills it again, and will then try to negotiate a broader deal. But Netanyahu will not be Biden’s only headache as he tries to carry out this policy.
- Iran announced on Monday that it had resumed production of 20% enriched uranium and Tehran also threatened to expel nuclear inspectors.
- A Netanyahu government minister, Tzachi Hanegbi, said Tuesday that Israel should respond to Iran’s enrichment with a military strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities, “because the world is sitting with folded arms.”
- The other side: The Institute of Politics and Strategy, a think tank led by retired Israeli General Amos Gilead, released a document on Sunday calling for a calm dialogue with the Biden administration on Iran to avoid a public confrontation that could be detrimental to to Israel.
What follows: There has been no contact between the Israeli government and the new Biden administration yet, and it is unclear who will manage Israel’s spread to Biden over Iran. One of the names mentioned is Mossad director Yossi Cohen.
It is necessary to emphasize: A transitional Biden official said Biden had been “one of Israel’s strongest supporters” and that the Biden-Harris administration “will not only further strengthen the relationship between the United States and Israel, but will also ensure to enjoy bipartisan support. ” Dermer declined to comment on the story, as did Netanyahu’s office.
In depth: The dilemma of the Biden nuclear deal