A week before the resumption of the Nov. 29 Vienna talks between Iran and world powers on a return to their nuclear agreement, a significant deterioration has emerged in one of the most intriguing and sensitive arenas of this ongoing saga — not between the United States and Iran but rather between the United States and Israel. In Israeli slang, this development would be called “shooting inside the tank,” in other words, instead of shooting at the enemy, the allies are targeting each other as they prepare to storm the other side’s forces.

It began behind closed doors with veiled hints and exaggerated politeness, but went on to trickle down and out into the public domain. Over the past week, Israel and the United States appear to be waging a public fist fight in the media. Right now, the skirmish is confined to snide remarks, exchanges of irate messages and signals of mutual dissatisfaction. Neither side wants an escalation. Israel does not have any other strategic ally while the Biden administration — despite being conciliatory toward Iran — views Israel as a strategic asset and does not intend or want to fight it.

To the credit of the Americans, it should be said that Israel started it. To Israel’s credit, let it be said that it had no choice. First came anonymous briefings by senior Israeli officials over the past two weeks according to which the United States was determined to return to the Iran nuclear deal at all costs. The briefing remarks escalated, accusing the United States of willingness to reach an interim agreement with Iran in return for a lifting of sanctions and a freeze on continued uranium enrichment — a complete capitulation to Iran, according to these unnamed officials.

Israel views this approach as unadulterated, disastrous defeatism. On Nov. 15, when President Joe Biden’s Iran envoy Robert Malley visited Israel, a meeting with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was not on his schedule. Malley met with Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, as well as the head of the National Security Council Eyal Hulata, but Bennett did not invite him to meet. This was explained in Jerusalem by citing protocol that does not oblige a prime minister to meet a visiting senior official, but everyone knows that under normal circumstances, Bennett would have been keen for a meeting with a special envoy who holds the administration’s Iran portfolio. These, however, are not normal circumstances.