‘Obsessed’ Biden Administration Put Settlements On Par With Iran Nukes

The Biden administration has put the issue of settlements on the same level as the Iranian nuclear threat in its discussions with Israeli officials, multiple Israeli diplomatic sources said in recent days.

“The Americans bring up ‘settler violence’ all the time, obsessively,” a senior diplomatic source in Jerusalem lamented.

When Defense Minister Benny Gantz was in Washington last week to implore the Americans to take a tougher stance against the Iranian nuclear threat, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted they devote equal time to discussing settlements as they did to Iran, which Israeli diplomatic sources found baffling.

Blinken told Gantz that the Israeli government’s settlement activity is “destroying the chance of a two-state solution.”

Another Israeli source involved in Gantz's visit to Washington said the description of the meeting is "inaccurate and the meeting with the secretary of state was friendly and mostly dealt with the Iranian matter.

"Other topics, such as the Palestinian issue, were discussed but were not the focus of the meeting," the source added. 

Gantz’s meetings with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin went more smoothly, the sources said. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is coming to Israel next Wednesday to discuss Iran.