WASHINGTON — When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was coming to Washington seven weeks before Election Day, top aides to former Vice President Joe Biden had to decide whether they should make an exception to one of their cardinal rules.
The Biden campaign had implemented a strict policy prohibiting campaign staff from communicating with foreign officials and diplomats, eager to avoid a repeat of the fallout from the 2016 election that has haunted President Donald Trump ever since.
But with Netanyahu — a prominent allied leader — coming to sign a landmark peace agreement brokered by their Republican rival at the White House, the Biden campaign internally debated whether it would take his call or meeting if one was requested by Israeli officials.
