President Joe Biden is expected to follow a newly devised strategy in dealing with Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu once he takes office, Politico reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, which is based on two US officials familiar with the issue, the plan is to serve as a means of handling the challenging ideological gap between the Democratic president and the emerging right-wing government, which will be heavily based on Otzma Yehudit and other far-Right elements.
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"The Biden administration will hold the presumptive Israeli prime minister personally responsible for the actions of his more extreme cabinet members, especially if they lead to policies that endanger a future Palestinian state," the report said, based on the sources.
"Netanyahu is the person US officials will publicly turn to, refer to and rely upon for any remotely serious talks on issues ranging from Israeli settlements in the West Bank to Israel's relations with Arab states," Politico quoted one official.
Netanyahu has stressed in recent weeks that although he will have to accommodate Otzma Yehudit and the Religious Zionist Party's requests to some degree – such as by giving them more control over settlement issues and law enforcement in their new ministerial portfolios as part of the coalition agreements – he will ultimately be the final arbiter when it comes to strategic issues such as gay rights, religious laws and other universal aspects of daily life in Israel, as well as its foreign policy.
"Bibi says he can control his government, so let's see him do just that," said one of the US officials, according to Politico. Netanyahu will likely announce Wednesday that he has all the necessary support to swear in a government, with the confirmation vote expected to take place several days later.
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