Jared Kushner informed the new National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan about the Trump administration’s policies for the Middle East, the U.S. outgoing ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, said in a closed hearing in the Israeli parliament on Monday.
Why it matters: Friedman said that Kushner informed Sullivan in particular about the Abraham Accord process, whereby four Arab countries normalized relations with Israel, according to lawmakers present at the hearing. Trump’s advisers hope President-elect Biden will continue this process and encourage other countries like Saudi Arabia to apply.
Driving the news: The call came about two weeks ago, several days before Kushner traveled to Saudi Arabia for a summit of Gulf leaders. It is not clear whether Kushner brought a message from Sullivan to any of the leaders.
- White House envoy Avi Berkowitz also informed a former Obama administration official who may be in line for a Middle East-related position under Biden about normalization agreements, a Trump administration official told me.
- According to Israeli lawmakers who attended Monday’s briefing, Friedman said he recently met with his Obama-era predecessor, Dan Shapiro, and informed him about the Trump administration’s work in the Middle East over the past four years. Shapiro made it clear to Friedman at the meeting that he was not part of Biden’s transition team.
Behind the scenes: Friedman presented the Knesset foreign affairs committee with his reflections on what the Biden government will and should do in relation to Israel and the region, lawmakers who attended the briefing said.
- Friedman said Biden is a friend of Israel. He also said he expected the Biden government to put pressure on Israel over the West Bank settlement issue, resume aid to the Palestinian Authority and continue to increase Israel’s ties with China, an issue Friedman said Israel should take more seriously.
Friedman also said that Biden would probably try to revive the nuclear deal with Iran.
- He specifically expressed concerns about the influence of former Secretary of State John Kerry and former national security adviser Susan Rice on Biden’s policy on Iran, despite the fact that none of them work in Iran’s portfolio, a lawmaker said. Israeli.
- Friedman said Israel should not seek an immediate confrontation with Biden over Iran, but should ask the Biden government to start a dialogue with Israel, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries before deciding to return the nuclear deal.
Unsurprisingly, Friedman said that Biden should not reverse Trump’s policies on Jerusalem or Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights. He also said that a fight with Israel over the settlements would go nowhere.
- Friedman said Saudi Arabia would have recognized Israel within a year if Trump won re-election.
- But he criticized his boss, saying that Trump’s relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had occasionally been “too warm” and that Biden would be more critical of Turkey.
Go deeper: Netanyahu demands full control over Israel’s policy towards Iran, provoking resistance.