Israel used the recent visit of General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to relay various messages to the upcoming Biden government about Iran and other regional developments, senior Israeli officials tell me.
Why it matters: Israel is deeply concerned about President-elect Biden’s plans regarding Iran and the 2015 nuclear deal, but has no direct contact with the incoming government yet. Milley is a potential bridge to Biden’s White House as he is expected to stay after the transition.
What they say: “We wanted to take our case to the new government on Iran through someone who will still be present when Biden takes office and play a substantial role in any policy review that will take place,” said an Israeli official. .
Driving the news: Milley arrived in Israel last Thursday after visiting several Arab capitals. It was his third visit to the region this year, stemming from fears of Iranian retaliation following the killing of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
- Milley met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Secretary Benny Gantz and Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff General Aviv Kochavi.
Behind the scenes: The Israelis’ main message to Milley was that Biden should not go back to the 2015 deal, but instead take advantage of Iran being in a weak position, Israeli officials who attended the talks say.
- If Biden doesn’t use the power the US has built up through its sanctions regime of “maximum pressure,” Israelis argued, he will find it impossible to negotiate a better deal later.
- “We emphasized that the starting point of all talks with Iran is much better for the US today than it was in 2013. What is needed now is to be tough to get a better deal,” said an Israeli official.
Situation: Biden says he will return to the 2015 deal if Iran is back into compliance and is trying to use it as a platform to negotiate a broader and longer-lasting deal. That would require the US to lift sanctions and Iran to halt its recent nuclear activities.
Milley made it clear that he still hasn’t had a chance to speak to members of the new government, but said Biden’s national security team has a pro-engagement approach to Iran, an Israeli official said.
- Milley even named John Kerry and Susan Rice among those who could influence the government’s thinking about Iran, an Israeli official said, despite the fact that their roles (Kerry as the climate czar, Rice leading the Internal Policy Council) have nothing to do with Iran. .
The Israelis also told Milley that the new government should be more flexible when it comes to relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, despite concerns over their human rights record, the officials said.
- “We think it is important that the next administration will maintain the momentum of the normalization process, and we think this historic regional opportunity should guide US policy at this point. So we hope that the new government will look at the complexity and not set the bridges with those countries on fire, ”an Israeli official told me.
What’s next: The wide differences in policies between the Israeli government and the incoming US administration are likely to create tensions. Those tensions could increase in the run-up to the Israeli elections, expected in March, if Netanyahu makes his objections to Biden’s policies part of his campaign.