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A former senior aide to US President-elect Joe Biden claimed that reentering the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran was “high on [the] agenda” and that the incoming American leader would begin taking steps towards that end shortly after assuming office in January.
“I believe that in the first months [of Biden’s presidency], we’ll either see him rejoin the deal fully, or what I would call ‘JCPOA-minus,’ meaning lifting sanctions in exchange for suspending some of the Iranian nuclear programs [developed] in the past three years,” Amos Hochstein predicted in an interview with Israeli television.
Hochstein, who oversaw the implementation of energy sanctions on Tehran at the US Department of State during Barack Obama’s tenure, qualified that Biden is seeking “some changes” to the agreement, including, perhaps, prolonging its expiration date.
President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the pact in May 2018, citing as one of the reasons the deal’s relatively short shelf-life.
The news comes as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to visit Israel on November 18 and, thereafter, possibly various Sunni Gulf states. According to reports, the Trump Administration is planning to significantly increase its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, which could see the implementation of fresh sanctions every week until the current American president’s term ends.
The White House has apparently conceived, in conjunction with Israel’s political and defense establishments, a long list of Iranian targets for new financial penalties.
The Palestinian Authority has reportedly relayed messages to US President-elect Joe Biden indicating that Ramallah is willing to resume American-brokered peace talks with Israel from the point at which they broke off at the tail-end of the Obama Administration. At the time, US diplomats had presented both sides with an outline that would form the basis of future negotiations.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cautiously accepted the proposal, the Palestinian leadership did not reply to the overture and there has been little, if any, progress made towards solving the conflict since then.
Meanwhile, PA President Mahmoud Abbas this week is slated to give a speech in which he will reportedly call on Biden to reverse President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and ask that the US Embassy in the Jewish state be relocated to Tel Aviv.
President-elect Biden is not expected to abide by the demands and was described by one PA official as “being known for his affection for Israel and his pro-Zionist stances.”
Prior to Biden’s victory, Abbas reportedly told confidants that he would soon be directing Palestinian forces to resume security coordination with the Israeli military in the West Bank. He is also purportedly readying to announce that the PA will again begin accepting taxes and tariffs Israel collects on behalf of and then distributes to Ramallah in accordance with the Oslo Accords.
Just days after the US presidential elections, rumors are swirling in Israel over the possibility of a fourth national vote since March 2019. According to Israeli media, Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz, who currently serves as defense minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, reportedly met with Naftali Bennett, head of the right-wing Yamina party, to discuss dissolving the government and sending Israelis to the polls.
The report suggested that Gantz does not believe that Netanyahu will respect the terms of their coalition agreement, which envisions the former assuming the premiership in November of next year. Members of Gantz’s Blue and White party have also apparently met with Opposition Leader Yair Lapid in order to coordinate their moves.
The parties are said to be in lockstep, having tacitly agreed that the best way forward is to bring down the government in late December when the state budget must be passed.
The first airplane carrying Israeli tourists to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday landed in Dubai, in the latest evidence that the September 15 normalization deal between the two countries is bearing fruit. FlyDubai flight No. FZ8194 landed in the early evening following a three-hour trip that crossed into Saudi Arabia’s airspace.
The tourists were joined by a number of businessmen seeking out opportunities in the Emirates. Israel and the UAE have agreed to launch regular commercial flights, with FlyDubai, a low budget carrier, planning to formally inaugurate the route later this month.
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