Jerusalem and Washington have reportedly been in talks to coordinate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's first visit to the White House as early as July, the Walla news site reported Monday.
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Israeli officials told Walla that Bennett's office and the Biden administration want the visit to take place as soon as possible. The prime minister's office confirmed that talks are underway to coordinate a visit to the White House, adding that a final date will be set soon.
An American source claimed that the fact that Biden called Bennett just two hours after the former took the oath of office as prime minister shows how interested the White House is in working with him.
The source added that Washington believes that the current Israeli government, which is made up of eight parties with a wide range of ideological views, is an example for other countries as to how cooperation can exist despite clear political divisions.
Meanwhile, in a meeting with Yamina party members, the new prime minister accused the Opposition of trying to sabotage his relationship with Biden. The meeting was not open to the media, and the information was shared with Israel Hayom by a source privy to the matter.
In his first speech at the Knesset as opposition leader, Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that when push comes to shove, Bennett would not dare to confront the US administration on the Iranian nuclear threat and would allow Washington and Tehran to renew the nuclear deal.
The Biden administration is seeking to renew the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action former President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018.
Back when he was prime minister, Netanyahu instructed officials to present a united front in which Israel uncompromisingly opposes any nuclear agreement between Washington and Tehran. According to this approach, Israel should not even attempt to have a say in the wording of the new deal, but only try to thwart it.
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Bennett has decided to change this policy, and instructed officials, including Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi, who left for Washington last week, to try to get the American government to adjust the wording of the agreement based on Israel's reservations on the matter.
On Monday, at another meeting with party members, Bennett explicitly accused the opposition of trying to sabotage Israel-US relations, but did not elaborate on how these attempts were being carried out.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
