Report: Israel developing strategy to influence Biden on Iran

Israel is developing a strategy to influence the incoming Biden administration on any new deal with Iran on its nuclear program, Walla news reports, citing two senior officials and two Knesset members with knowledge of the matter.

The report says Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi told a top Knesset committee last week: “We don’t want to be left outside again.”

Israel publicly fought the Obama administration as it negotiated the 2015 deal, leading to a nadir in US-Israeli ties.

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi talks to the media at a news conference in front of the Liebermann Villa at the Wannsee Lake in Berlin, Germany, August 27, 2020. (Michele Tantussi/Pool Photo via AP)

The report says Ashkenazi has lamented that this approach left Israel irrelevant to the process. His ministry has now formed a team to keep Israel involved and able to affect the outcome of any fresh negotiations.