But Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin, who joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a meeting with the Russian government this week on the Iran nuclear program issue, told a Russian radio station that “even when there are disagreements over this issue or another… there is no one who can take the place of the Americans,” the Jerusalem Post reported.

Kerry, in turn, said he still believes the proposed agreement with Iran has “the best chance we’ve had in a decade… to halt progress and roll back Iran’s program,” according to the Washington Post. Just a day earlier, Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei referred to Israel as the “rabid dog” of the Middle East.