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Bennett to Biden: ‘Israel opposed to Iran deal but won’t air dirty laundry in public’

“My philosophy is that if something is bothering you, you don’t go to the media. You pick up the phone and talk,” Bennett told Biden.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett promised President Joe Biden that despite Israel’s opposition to a return to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, the Jewish State would avoid publicly lobbying the U.S. to oppose such a deal , Walla News reported.

Bennett is reportedly seeking to avoid a repeat of Obama-Netanyahu era tensions, which led to a period of strained ties between the two nations with Israel being left out of the negotiating room as the deal took shape.

A Bennett staffer who was present at the meeting told Walla that the prime minister emphasized the importance of resolving disputes behind closed doors, rather than via the media.

“Although there will be disagreements, I want us to work together fairly and honestly,” Bennett reportedly told Biden.

Citing the diverse groups in his coalition, which include right-wing, left-wing, and Islamist parties, he said that he is comfortable managing ideological differences of opinion.

“My philosophy is that if something is bothering you, you don’t go to the media. You pick up the phone and talk. That’s how I want us to work,” he said.

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Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vocally expressed his displeasure with then-president Barack Obama’s 2015 entry into an agreement aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program.

After calling the deal a “historic mistake,” Netanyahu gave a speech to Congress during a visit that had not been organized through the Obama administration, calling on lawmakers to reject the agreement.

“This is a bad deal –- a very bad deal. We’re better off without it,” Netanyahu said.

In November 2020, Walla reported that then-Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said during a closed door security meeting that “we don’t want to be on the outside this time.”

That same month, a senior Saudi government official slammed Biden, in an interview with Israel Hayom, calling him a “a pro-Iranian president who will adopt a conciliatory policy towards Tehran that will endanger the region.”

An Emirati security official added, “there is grave concern that Biden’s cabinet will be made up of Obama’s people and that the Biden administration will remove sanctions from Tehran.”