The Biden administration hopes the next Israeli government continues to uphold the countries' shared values of an "open, democratic society, including tolerance and respect for all in civil society, particularly for minority groups," State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Wednesday.

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"What makes this [Washington-Jerusalem] relationship so strong, and what has made it so strong since Israel's independence to the present day, is that this is a relationship that has always been based on our shared interests, but importantly our shared values," said Price.

The remarks were an apparent reference to the growing likelihood of the inclusion of the Religious Zionism Party in a Likud Party-led government, with opposition head Benjamin Netanyahu returning to the Prime Minister's Office following Tuesday's general election. The party is a union between two far-Right parties: the National Union led by Bezalel Smotrich and Otzma Yehudit Itamar Ben-Gvir, both of whom are expected to hold senior portfolios in the emerging cabinet.

"Regardless," Price added, "we have a close and enduring relationship with Israel … and certainly that will continue." Price refused to comment on Ben-Gvir's potential inclusion in the parliament despite his past association with racist figures.

Also on Wednesday, US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides released a statement saying that he "look[s] forward to continuing to work with the Israeli government on our shared interests and values."

Both Price and Nides suggested that it was still too early to predict the exact composition of the next government in Jerusalem, even as Netanyahu's right-religious bloc appears to be poised for a resounding victory.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Political officials blamed Defense Minister Benny Gantz Friday for causing a rift with the Biden administration by failing to "properly" update it about Israel's plans to declare six Palestinian human rights groups as terrorist organizations. 

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"The process was not done properly," one source told Israel Hayom. "Had the Defense Ministry prepared the administration, there would be no conflict, as there is enough evidence that these organizations are indeed terror groups that have nothing to do with human rights."

Gantz made the announcement on Friday saying the six groups operated as an arm for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The PFLP is considered by several countries to be a terror organization, including the United States and the European Union. 

Later in the day, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price criticized Israel for failing to provide an advance warning that the Palestinian groups would be backlisted and said Washington would seek an explanation. 

The move also caused backlash from the European Union, the Palestinian Authority, international human rights organizations, and progressive Democrats. 

However, officials in Israel insist that both the Biden administration and the European Union – both of whom have funded the Palestinian groups in the past – were briefed on the decision before it was announced. 

One source told Israel Hayom that the Foreign Ministry invested great efforts to update the governments. He also added that Gantz "knows full well how important are the ties with the United States, which he has fostered in the past two years and which have led to unprecedented security cooperation."

Over the weekend, the matter led to infighting within the coalition. 

"It is highly problematic to define civil society organizations as terror groups," Nitzan Horowitz, the leader of the left-wing Meretz party, said. "The matter must be examined carefully because it has implications on human rights and democracy. The defense establishment must present its findings and clear evidence to the public."

Similarly, Labor Party MK Naama Lazimi said "unless intelligence led to the declaration of the Palestinian human rights organizations as terror groups, the move is serious and certainly puzzling for a sovereign state that should not only not flinch away from human rights groups," but should support them. 

In response, Blue and White MK Yael Ron Ben-Moshe lambasted Lazimi saying her comments were uncalled for, seeing that it was "an investigation by the Shin Bet and the Defense and Justice ministries that found that certain organizations aid terrorism, engage in terrorism and its senior officials are arrested for terrorist activity."

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked commended Gantz on the decision. 

"Defense Minister Benny Gantz's is an important move that is based on solid intelligence from the Shin Bet [security agency] and [the IDF] General Staff," she said. "For years, these organizations disguised themselves as "human rights" groups that actually aid terror activities by the PFLP and fuel support for the [anti-Israel] BDS [movement]. Many countries have funded these organizations and it is good that they are putting an end to it."

The six designated groups are Al-Haq, a human rights group founded in 1979, as well as the Addameer rights group, Defense for Children International-Palestine, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees, and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees. 

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Diplomats from major powers met separately on Wednesday with Iran and the United States to discuss how to bring both back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal that Washington withdrew from three years ago.

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Neither the US nor Iran expect fast breakthroughs in the talks that began in Vienna on Tuesday, with European and other diplomats acting as intermediaries because Tehran rejects face-to-face negotiations for now.

Former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal, which lifted economic sanctions on the Islamist Republic in return for curbs to its nuclear program. He reimposed the sanctions, prompting Iran to violate the accord's atomic limits.

The deal's remaining parties – Iran, Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia – agreed on Tuesday to form two expert-level groups whose job is to marry lists of sanctions that Washington could lift with nuclear obligations Tehran should meet.

Diplomats said the working groups, which are chaired by the European Union and exclude the US, met on Wednesday and suggested they would know in a matter of weeks whether they might bear fruit before Iran's June 18 presidential elections.

"The team on the ground in Vienna has had consultations with our European allies as well as with our Russian and Chinese partners. They, in turn, have met with the Iranian delegation," US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in Washington.

The talks would be hard because of the indirect format, the history of US-Iran mistrust, and the complexity of the issues, Price said.

He also suggested Washington might be willing to ease some sanctions on Iran beyond those whose removal was mandated by the original nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but gave no details.

"We are prepared to take the steps necessary to return to compliance with the JCPOA, including by lifting sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA. I am not in a position here to give you chapter and verse on what those might be," he said.

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