Netanyahu and Israel reluctantly adjust to a post-Trump Washington

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his close aides are very nervous about the transition to a new U.S. administration after a four-year honeymoon with Donald Trump. One Israeli official told me it felt like going through detox.What he's saying: Netanyahu congratulated Biden minutes after he was sworn in, saying in a statement that he looked forward to working together to 'continue expanding peace between Israel and the Arab world and to confront common challenges, chief among them the threat posed by Iran.'Be smart: sign up FREE for the most influential newsletter in America.Between the lines: Netanyahu fiercely opposes Biden's plan to return to the Iran nuclear deal, putting the two are on a collision course. * Secretary of State designate Tony Blinken said during his confirmation hearing on Tuesday that the U.S. wouldn't rush back into the deal and would consult with Israel and the Gulf states before re-joining.But that hasn’t reassured Netanyahu and his close aides, who have been concerned to see some of the deal's architects and fiercest advocates join Biden's administration. * Biden and Blinken are now considering Rob Malley — a former Middle East adviser to Barack Obama who was deeply involved in the talks which led to the 2015 deal — as the administration's Iran envoy, working out of the State Department, Israeli and U.S. officials say. * A Biden aide said no final decision had been made on a potential appointment. The State Department declined to comment.The other side: Israeli officials were happy with the choice of Brett McGurk to hold the Middle East file on Biden's National Security Council (NSC). * McGurk has close relationships with many senior officials in the Israeli security establishment. An Iraq and Syria expert, he's expected to focus much of his work on Iran’s regional activity, an issue of great interest to IsraelOn the Israeli-Palestinian issue, which isn't expected to be a high priority for Biden, Blinken conceded in his hearing that he do