Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Rome on Sunday as their new governments appear focused on shoring up the informal ceasefire that ended last month's war with Gaza's terrorist Hamas rulers and replenishing Israel's Iron Dome defense system.
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Lapid is also expected to meet his Bahraini counterpart, Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayan, in what will be the first face-to-face diplomatic contacts for a senior member of the new Israeli government. He will then meet with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio before returning to Israel later Sunday.
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates normalized ties with Israel last year, a deal brokered by the Trump administration. Lapid is due to visit the UAE on Tuesday and Wednesday.
At least in the short term, Lapid, a centrist, will be Israel's point man on mending the relationship with US President Joe Biden and his Democratic party, which controls both houses of Congress but is increasingly divided on the Mideast conflict, with progressive members calling for the US to exert more pressure on Israel.
"What they're building now is mutual trust," said Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the United States under Netanyahu. "I expect a change of tone rather than of substance... but there's a possibility that it could produce something better for Israel."
Topping the agenda in both countries are talks in Vienna over reviving Iran's 2015 accord with world powers to limit Tehran's ability to develop nuclear weapons. Former US President Donald Trump, with the backing of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pulled the US out of the deal in 2018 and imposed sanctions on the Islamic republic. Biden has promised to restore and expand the problematic agreement.
Though opposed to a new accord, Israel's new government seems intent on trying to influence the talks rather than scuttle them altogether.
In contrast to Netanyahu's approach during the Obama era, Lapid recently announced that he and Blinken had agreed to a "no-surprises" policy in an effort to keep the lines of communication open. The two are expected to discuss the issue Sunday in Rome.
Even the right-leaning Bennett, who is ideologically aligned with Netanyahu, has toned down the rhetoric on Iran.
"We will continue to consult with our friends, persuade, discuss, and share information and insights out of mutual respect," Bennett said Thursday. "But at the end of the day, we will be responsible for our own fate, nobody else."
On the US side, the Biden administration has made clear it wants to extricate the country from intractable conflicts in the Middle East and focus on other challenges, such as climate change and competition with China.
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On Monday, outgoing President Reuven Rivlin will visit Washington at Biden's invitation. A group of House Democrats are planning an official trip to Israel as soon as Congress' July 4th recess.
There's even talk of Lapid and Bennett traveling to Washington later in the summer, separately or together, the officials said. Bennett will serve as prime minister for the first two years, followed by Lapid, the architect of the coalition.
Lapid met Blinken for the first time last month when the secretary of state was in Jerusalem as part of the US effort to strengthen the ceasefire between Israel and terror groups in Gaza.
