US envoy: PM won’t talk about boosting Israel’s security

Dan Shapiro, the US ambassador to Israel, says Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been ignoring appeals to begin talks on ramped up security cooperation with the US based on the assumption that Congress will approve the nuclear deal with Iran.

Shapiro proposes (https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-envoy-netanyahu-wont-talk-about-day-after-deal/) that current disagreements on the nuclear deal, which Israel strongly opposes, should not get in the way of planning for a future in the Middle East shaped by the agreement.

“So far, the prime minister is not prepared to hold talks,” he told Army Radio. “I think that the time has come. Why wait? I think he will decide to do it.”

Shapiro said he had informed Netanyahu that Israel can begin professional talks with the US to look at ways of improving the security cooperation between the countries, particularly vis-a-vis threats from Iran.

— Stuart Winer