Joe Biden’s key foreign policy role as Barack Obama’s vice president and his record of support for Israel make him one of the candidates best positioned to defend the nuclear deal with Iran as he enters the 2020 presidential race today.

Unlike his rivals, the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee boasts a decades-long relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, potentially p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; background-color: #07f900} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} helping Biden to fend off Republican attacks against his support for Obama’s signature foreign policy effort. That tight connection, however, could prove a liability p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} span.s1 {font-kerning: none; background-color: #07f900} span.s2 {font-kerning: none} with some left-wing primary voters who have soured on Israel’s right-wing leadership.

As he puts together his campaign staff, Biden is expected to draw from a pool of experts that participated in years of negotiations with Iran, said Ben Fishman, a former adviser to Obama on Middle East policy. That should leave him well-positioned to defend specifics of the deal while also addressing lingering bipartisan concerns about Iran’s role in the region.

“His first-hand knowledge of the details will allow him to articulate a policy not just on the nuclear elements of Iran, but the regional destabilization elements that Iran is still pursuing actively — including in Iraq,” said Fishman, now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.