FOREIGN POLICY/IRAN/ISRAEL/PALESTINE/PROTESTS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Israel and the U.S. are amplifying criticism of Iran’s role in Middle East conflicts, part of a coordinated effort to curb Tehran’s influence in the region as antigovernment protests put pressure on the country’s leaders.
Since protests began last week in Iran, Israel has accused Tehran of setting up a terrorist cell in the Palestinian West Bank and blamed Iran for supplying mortars fired on Israeli territory by militants from the Gaza Strip. Iran hasn’t responded to the allegations… When the new year started, U.S. officials said, domestic protest in Iran wasn’t expected to be at the top of the Trump administration agenda. But the demonstrations are now part of the administration’s evolving effort to cast Iran as an international pariah… White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders this week said that ‘years of mismanagement, corruption, and foreign adventurism have eroded the Iranian people’s trust in their leaders.’
U.S. and Israeli criticism of Iranian meddling comes as the White House and Israel jointly work on a broad strategy of countering Tehran’s regional influence after significant disagreements on the issue between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Obama administration, U.S. and Israeli officials said.
National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster and his Israeli counterpart, Meir Ben-Shabbat, took part in discussions last month about a joint strategy. The effort includes measures to combat Iranian proliferation of arms and aims to ensure Tehran doesn’t win a long-term foothold in Syria, an Israeli official said.”
-Rory Jones and Dion Nissenbaum, “Israel and U.S. Ramp Up Criticism of Iran’s Actions Abroad,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 4, 2018 06:14pm