Dan Shapiro, who served as the US Ambassador to Israel during the Obama administration, was appointed by the US State Department as a senior advisor and liaison to Israel on the Iranian issue, Axios reported. “We are pleased to welcome former US ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro back to the State Department,” said a State Department spokesperson. “Dan has joined Special Envoy Malley’s team as a special government employee and part-time senior advisor.” The statement added that Shapiro is also “the first of what we plan to be a small group of part-time advisors, who will add to the diversity of perspective and knowledge on the Special Envoy’s team.” Although Shapiro has expressed support of the Iran deal in the past, he is considered to be more hawkish on the Iranian issue than the other members of the Malley team. “Dan’s experience and knowledge of the region and the fact that people in the region know him will help us in thinking about the regional aspects of the Iranian issue and will contribute a lot to our coordination with Israel,” the State Department official told Axios. Shapiro’s appointment comes as Israel pressures the US to formulate a “Plan B” in case of the likely scenario that US negotiations with Iran will fail. Shapiro, who has relationships with many Israeli officials, would focus on coordinating with Israel regarding Plan B as well other regional implications of the Iranian issue. Many US officials believe that returning to the 2015 nuclear deal is becoming more and more unlikely, especially after the appointment of hardliner President Ebrahim Raisi. Meanwhile, Israel fears that the current state of limbo is enabling the Islamic Republic to further advance its nuclear capabilities and urgently wants to form a joint strategy with the US to combat Iran. Shapiro is expected to spend half of his time in Washington and half in Israel, where he will work out of the US embassy. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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