BICOM

What happened: US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke yesterday on the phone and discussed a range of regional issues, foremost the nuclear talks in Vienna between the JCPOA participants and Iran.

• According to the White House statement the two leaders “discussed the shared security and other challenges in the Middle East region, including the threat posed by Iran and its proxies”.
• President Biden also reiterated his “unwavering support” for Israel’s security.
• The White House added: “The President underscored his commitment to expanding stability and partnerships across the Middle East region, as exemplified by the Abraham Accords, together with Israelis and Palestinians enjoying equal measures of security, freedom, and prosperity.”
• According to the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, Bennett also thanked President Biden “for his steadfast support of Israel as well as the support of his entire administration, especially with regards to American assistance towards the Iron Dome.”
• At yesterday’s cabinet meeting Bennett reiterated his view that Iran is “the greatest threat against the State of Israel.” He told his ministers that the agreement being negotiated in Vienna, “will damage the ability to deal with the nuclear programme. Whoever thinks that an agreement will increase stability – is mistaken. It will temporarily delay enrichment but all of us in the region will pay a heavy, disproportionate price for it.”
• He maintained that Israel will be “closing gaps and building up military strength for years and even decades to come. Israel will maintain freedom of action in any case, with or without an agreement.”

Context: This is the first conversation between Biden and Bennett since they met on the side-lines of the climate conference in Glasgow three months ago. They also met in August, in the White House.

• Despite a deep divide between the US and Israel over their approach to Iran, the current Israeli government prefers to keep dialogue intact and not argue in public. Bennett has assured the US that they will remain co-ordinated and his government won’t lie to them or surprise them with action on the ground.
• However, Bennett has also said that if the sides reach an agreement to return to the JCPOA nuclear deal, Israel will not be bound by it and will preserve its freedom to act.
• On Friday, the US removed some sanctions that will allow countries to cooperate with Iran on civilian nuclear projects.
• A senior US State Department official told CNN the waiver “is not a concession to Iran,” nor is it “a signal that we are about to reach an understanding on a mutual return to full implementation of the JCPOA. We are issuing the waiver now for a simple reason: it will enable some of our international partners to have more detailed technical discussions to enable cooperation that we view as being in our non-proliferation interests.”
• Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian responded to the US move, saying: “While what is on paper is good … it’s not enough.”

Looking ahead:  Last night Rob Malley told MSNBC: “President Biden still wants us to negotiate in Vienna. We’ll come back next week. That’s a symbol or a sign of our continued belief that it is not a dead corpse, that we need to revive it because it is in our interest.”

• Iranian sources have said that their negotiating team will soon return to Vienna for what could be the 9^th and final round of talks.
• According to the White House statement, US President Biden will visit Israel later this year.
• The US and Israeli National Security Advisers are expected to continue their dialogue and will remain in close consultation over Iran.