* First, Israeli officials plan to discourage the US from lifting sanctions on Iran w\o serious concessions
* Israel is opposed to any return to the JCPOA - new deal must stop any uranium enrichment by Iran, no sunset clauses
*"Anytime, anywhere" inspections
* Contrary to what many are saying, Iran's missile programs and malign actions in the region are not at the top of Israel's list - they're bad, but Israel is focused on the existential nuclear issue
And an important point that others have reported as well is that Netanyahu is *not* looking for a fight with Biden. Biden admin officials said they will speak with Israel & other allies before Iran, unlike the Obama admin, which a top official said "deliberately misled us."
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Former Trump administration official involved in the Abraham Accords tells me the freeze is "a vote of confidence in Iran and a vote of dismay to our allies who proactively made peace. It’s a slap in the face. Every bad message you could possibly send - this is it."
I take it back. I don't think it's *that* significant. There's this narrative that the UAE signed the Abraham Accords because of the F-35s, when in reality, it wasn't part of the negotiations, they'd been asking for the plans for 6 yrs & the sale was approved months later.
I'm sure if the Biden admin decides not to buy the planes, the UAE will be very disappointed, but peace with Israel didn't hinge on them. Unlike, say, Sudan getting off the State Sponsors of Terror list or Morocco getting recognition for Western Sahara.
Netanyahu speaking at Davos now about Israel's vaccine rollout, saying that he got personally involved in the negotiations and that he didn't think it would be a big deal for Israel to agree to pay a bit more, bc as int'l demand went up the price would go up further.
Netanyahu also said Israel can serve as "a world lab for herb immunity" because its efficient health services distribute vaccines quickly.
(Speaking via video conference. Davos conference is online this year.)
Last night, Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat spoke with his American counterpart Jake Sullivan, congratulating him. They discussed Iran, advancing the Abraham Accords and other topics.
The Biden administration readout of the call is very similar to the PMO readout, but one notable difference is that the Biden admin didn't use the Trump-era "Abraham Accords" branding for the normalization agreements
A few people asked - This is the relevant sentence: "They discussed opportunities to enhance the partnership over the coming months, including by building on the success of Israel's normalization arrangements with UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco."