As both sides hoped, the relationship between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett got off to a good start despite their policy differences when the two sat down at the White House on Friday.
Sources briefed on the meeting told Axios that Bennett made it clear that while he opposes the United States re-entering a nuclear deal with Israel’s regional rival Iran, he won’t publicly campaign against a pact like his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu did when former President Barack Obama was in office. Bennett is determined to have a positive relationship with Biden so they can work their way through any disagreements with “honesty and decency,” similar to how he’s trying to maneuver his way around a loosely-aligned coalition government back home, Axios writes.
It appears the White House is satisfied with Bennett’s message — Barbara Leaf, one of Biden’s top Middle East advisers who spent five hours with Bennett in different meetings on Friday, reportedly stressed that afterward while on a conference call with representatives of Jewish organizations in the United States, per Axios.
