Tzachi Hanegbi, Minister of the Israeli Settlements, expressed fears that an election victory for U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden could lead to a Tel Aviv-Tehran war.
He warned in an Israeli Channel 13 interview that Biden's position on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) could reignite tensions between the two competitors.
Hanegbi, who is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said, "If Trump's policy towards Iran has succeeded if it changes and the nuclear agreement returns-we will eventually reach an Israeli confrontation with Iran."
He noted that for a long time, Biden had said openly that he would return to the nuclear deal. "I see that as something that will lead to a confrontation between Israel and Iran."
U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden announced that if he wins the election, his administration would try to renegotiate the JCPOA.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, however, dismissed Tuesday the idea of any new negotiations during the tenure of the next US president on the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also said this week that for Tehran, the policies of the next US administration are important, not who wins the US elections.
Netanyahu instructed his ministers on Thursday not to comment on the US elections. Nonetheless, this week, Mikael Oren, who is close to the Israeli PM and a former Israeli ambassador to Washington, wrote that the US presidential election is full of what could be a fateful impact on the State of Israel.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, whom I knew well, was clearly a pro-Israel man committed to the Jerusalem-Washington strategic alliance. Similarly, Senator Kamala Harris of California, with whom I have also worked in the past, is also pro-Israel. Among the lone Democratic candidates, she and Biden were opposed to efforts to pressure Israel by withholding aid, he noted.
Oren noted, however, that the Biden administration would challenge Israel on two key issues: the first is a diplomatic process that would see Trump's "deal of the century" shirked by the government and return to the framework adopted by former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, meaning a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders with eastern Jerusalem's Palestinian capital.
'In order to stand on our own two feet and defend our vital interests, we Israelis will need to do more. As we can, as a strong and sovereign state,' Oren explained.
