US Ambassador Asks Israeli PM Netanyahu To Get Ready For Congress Approval Of Iran Deal

A U.S. diplomat asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cooperate regarding the Iran nuclear deal even if there is disagreement between Washington and Israel. Dan Shapiro, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, said neither Israel nor the United States could convince the other on the issue.

Shapiro asked Netanyahu to be prepared for the day the U.S. Congress approves the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers. He offered diplomatic talks on how both the nations could increase security cooperation to deal with the outcome of the agreement.

Shapiro said Netanyahu had not agreed to such but it is time for them. “It is not productive for us just to argue. ... We can still begin to prepare for the day after,” Iran's Press TV quoted Shapiro as saying. “We will need to work together to deal with Iran so why not prepare for it.”

Congress will have a chance to approve the nuclear deal in September. The envoy said in the meantime, Israel should discuss what intelligence information U.S. officials need to know to come to an agreement on military assistance for the next decade.

President Barack Obama is hopeful Congress will approve the Iran nuclear deal even though Republican lawmakers are likely to oppose it.

Michael Bell, who served Canada’s ambassador to Israel from 1975 to 2003, wrote in the Globe and Mail the current chaos in the Arab world may make it more difficult to have an early realization of a Palestinian state.