Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wishes to avoid an immediate confrontation with Biden over Iran, Israeli officials said, according to an Axios report.

The report said that according to a senior Israeli official, although Netanyahu is vehemently opposed to Biden rejoining the nuclear deal reached under Obama in 2015, the current situation with Biden is very different than it was with Obama.

Obama went behind Israel’s back and held secret talks with Iran. The Biden team, on the other hand, said that they will consult with Israel on Iran even before Biden entered office.

Furthermore, unlike Netanyahu’s strained relationship with Obama (which is not surprising considering Obama’s negative view of the Israeli leader and the “Israeli lobby” as confirmed in his memoirs), Netanyahu has a history of warm relations with Biden going back for 40 years, the Israeli official said. Netanyahu is hoping that a positive relationship between the two will lead to increased US receptiveness to Israel’s concerns regarding the deal.

According to other Israeli officials, Netanyahu is also hesitant to confront Biden due to the fact that, unlike Obama in 2015, Biden now has Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress.

However, a senior Israeli official added that the prime minister has no intention of reneging on his stance against the US rejoining the deal.

“He doesn’t want to tweak it,” the Israeli official said. “He thinks the agreement is flawed to its foundations and that the Iranians will agree to compromise only if pressure continues,”

IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi warned the Biden administration on Tuesday against rejoining the Iran deal. Kochavi said that he ordered the IDF to develop several new plans to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities if necessary.

On Wednesday, in one of his first calls as US Secretary of State, Tony Blinken spoke to his Israeli counterpart Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi.

“I had a warm call with Secretary of State Blinken and affirmed Israel’s commitment to the robust Israeli-US strategic partnership,” Ashkenazi stated. “I very much welcome Biden’s commitment to Israeli security. We discussed the challenges in our region, as well as the opportunities for peace and normalization. We agreed to keep in constant touch and close coordination.”

Great speaking with @Gabi_Ashkenazi today to discuss the steadfast partnership between the U.S. and Israel. Our commitment to Israel’s security is sacrosanct, and I look forward to working with the Foreign Minister and others toward our common goals.

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) January 28, 2021

On Thursday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen. Kenneth McKenzie arrived in Israel for talks with senior Israeli defense officials about Iran and other regional issues.

Mckenzie’s one-day visit is the first high-level visit of a senior US official since Biden entered office last week.

Earlir this month, while Trump was still in office, the US Defense Department moved Israel from the jurisdiction of the US European Command (EUCOM) to the Central Command (CENTCOM), which includes the Middle East region. Until now, the opposition of Arab states had prevented Israel from being part of the Central Command.

“The easing of tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors subsequent to the Abraham Accords has provided a strategic opportunity for the United States to align key partners against shared threats in the Middle East,” the Pentagon stated at the time.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)