Israel awaits Biden message on Iran deal amidst political uncertainty
Israel's political landscape will shift dramatically over the next few weeks, as the US president is set to visit.
Yair Lapid is scheduled to take over from Naftali Bennett as Israeli prime minister next week under a complex job-sharing agreement. It's an open question whether Lapid intends to maintain Bennett’s hawkish, confrontational policy on Iran and on the nuclear agreement between it and world powers.
US President Joe Biden’s July 13 visit to Israel comes as yet another domestic election cycle heats up and will require great precision, discretion and sensitivity. His schedule includes meetings with a newly minted prime minister, a new alternate prime minister, a president and possibly a former prime minister running for a return to the premiership. It's a political minefield for Biden and his staff.
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspects the Democratic president who served as vice president for former US President Barack Obama of aspiring to sabotage his electoral prospects. Netanyahu is deeply disliked by Democrats. His opponents can be expected to leverage this hostility and their own warm friendship with Biden.
One of the more intriguing questions ahead of the visit is which Lapid will await Biden at the bottom of the Air Force One stairs, his hands full of the highly volatile Iran issue and the Palestinian problem.
