Netanyahu’s pick of Iran file envoy signals confrontation with US
Picking national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat over real Iran experts such as Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen or retired Gen. Amos Yadlin means that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not believe dialoguing with the Biden administration on Iran will do any good.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly appointed national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat as Israel’s special envoy on the Iran nuclear issue ahead of renewed negotiations expected between the United States and Iran. Ben-Shabbat will be tasked with all of Israel’s contacts with the United States and the other signatories to the agreement — Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Specifically, he will try to convince the Americans that removing the sanctions imposed by former President Donald Trump on Iran and returning to the 2015 nuclear deal would be a grave mistake.
Israel’s official view is that the United States must conduct negotiations on a new nuclear agreement from a position of strength, taking advantage of the levers it holds and of Iran’s weakness. The idea is to strive for a long-term agreement, one that will also deal with Iran’s missile project and state sponsorship of terrorism.
Ben-Shabbat’s reported appointment stunned senior security officials. Their surprise stems not only from serious doubts about Ben-Shabbat’s suitability for the job, but also from Netanyahu’s decision to pass over Yossi Cohen, the Mossad chief who has attained mythological status in his lifetime and is largely viewed as a rare fit for the sensitive task.
“The inescapable conclusion from Ben-Shabbat’s appointment is that the prime minister is simply not interested in seeing a new agreement between the United States and Iran,” a senior diplomatic source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “He wants a clash with the US administration; he is in love with this pose that provided him with political leverage in President [Barack] Obama’s days.”
