Israel is developing a strategy to shape the policy of the Biden administration on a new Iran nuclear deal, Axios reported on Wednesday.

The report, which quoted two Knesset members and two other senior government officials, said that Israeli officials maintain that is almost definite that President-elect Joe Biden will reenter the Iran nuclear deal that President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018. “Biden intends to return to the deal if Iran returns to compliance and then attempt to negotiate a broader, longer-lasting agreement,” the officials said.

The report adds that Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi feels that Israel’s public squabble with the Obama administration during the 2015 nuclear deal negotiations was a mistake as it precluded Israel from playing a role in influencing the deal.

“We don’t want to be left outside again,” Ashkenazi told the members of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee last week, adding that his goal is to “make sure any future nuclear deal with Iran contains elements that are important for Israel.”

“In his view, that means convincing Biden to link the nuclear issue to Iran’s missile program and regional behavior,” the report stated.

Ashkenazi has formed a ministry team to ensure that Israel is not only involved in any future negotiations with Iran but will also be able to wield influence on the negotiations and affect the final outcome. According to the report, Israel’s Foreign Ministry had “already made preliminary contacts with members of the Biden transition team to establish channels of communication.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)