Top Israeli Delegation to Visit Washington to Discuss Nuclear Deal

Mossad chief Yossi Cohen during an event at the home of the US ambassador to Israel (File photo: Getty Images)
Mossad chief Yossi Cohen during an event at the home of the US ambassador to Israel (File photo: Getty Images)
TT

Top Israeli Delegation to Visit Washington to Discuss Nuclear Deal

Mossad chief Yossi Cohen during an event at the home of the US ambassador to Israel (File photo: Getty Images)
Mossad chief Yossi Cohen during an event at the home of the US ambassador to Israel (File photo: Getty Images)

A high-ranking Israeli delegation will head to Washington within the coming weeks to meet with their US counterparts and discuss the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

The delegation will include army chief Aviv Kochavi, head of Mossad Yossi Cohen, and Chief of Staff for National Security Meir Ben Shabbat. They will discuss the dangers of the nuclear deal on Israel, the US, and the allies in the Middle East and Europe, according to informed sources in Tel Aviv.

The delegation will travel later this month for consultations with the US military and security leadership, including White House officials.

They will present evidence that Iran is moving forward in its military nuclear and ballistic missile projects, aiming to dominate the region. They will also display updated images of the latest operations.

Israel wants to convey its message that an agreement with Iran leads to easing the sanctions, encouraging Tehran to boost its powers against US and Western interests in general, and it will harm Israel and Arab allies of Washington.

The visit is evidence of a change in the position of the Israeli security establishment on Iran.

The security services, with all their apparatuses and most of their generals, opposed the position of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for more than 12 years, and opposed a war against Iran in 2010 and 2011.

Despite the strong opposition, Cohen agrees with Netanyahu and Kochavi, and announced that he had given instructions to draw up a war plan to destroy the Iranian nuclear project.

Speaking at an event commemorating the Holocaust, Netanyahu warned Israel's allies against signing an agreement allowing Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.

The nuclear deal with Iran is being discussed again, said the prime minister, warning that such agreements are worthless, and they will not force Israel into agreeing to anything.

“Only one thing is necessary for us, which is to prevent anyone seeking to destroy us from implementing their plan.”

Sources in Tel Aviv said that Israel is taking several steps to fail the Iranian projects.

Recently, a number of media outlets reported that Israel has a number of covert operations against Iran similar to the assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, stealing of the nuclear archive from Tehran, and the attack against Iranian ships.

Military sources criticized this leak saying such moves are “not beneficial for countries defending their presence.”

However, a number of observers support the leaks saying they are "a message to the enemy", indicating that the recent attack on the Saviz ship in the Red Sea, which was attributed to Israel, was done deliberately at the launch of the Vienna talks discussing the Iranian nuclear program and US sanctions.



South Korea’s Presidential Aides Offer to Resign amid Political Crisis

Participants wave US and South Korean flags during a rally to support impeached South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol near the presidential residence in Seoul on January 1, 2025. (AFP)
Participants wave US and South Korean flags during a rally to support impeached South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol near the presidential residence in Seoul on January 1, 2025. (AFP)
TT

South Korea’s Presidential Aides Offer to Resign amid Political Crisis

Participants wave US and South Korean flags during a rally to support impeached South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol near the presidential residence in Seoul on January 1, 2025. (AFP)
Participants wave US and South Korean flags during a rally to support impeached South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol near the presidential residence in Seoul on January 1, 2025. (AFP)

Senior aides to South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol offered to resign en masse on Wednesday, a day after his office expressed regret over acting President Choi Sang-mok's approval of two new judges to a court set to decide Yoon's fate.

Yoon's chief of staff, policy chief, national security adviser and special adviser on foreign affairs and security, as well as all other senior secretaries, tendered their resignation, his office said in a statement, without elaborating.

Choi said he would not accept their resignation as the priority now was to focus on improving the economy and stabilizing state affairs, his office said.

The aides had repeatedly expressed their intent to step down in the wake of Yoon's botched attempt to declare martial law on Dec. 3, but their resignations have not been accepted, said a presidential official, who declined to be identified owing to political sensitivities.

The official said the senior secretaries have been assisting Choi since he took over as acting president. Two other officials said the aides do not participate in day-to-day government operations, but are required to report to Choi and attend meetings when necessary.

The aides' latest offer came a day after Choi's surprise approval to fill two vacancies on the Constitutional Court handling the impeachment trial against Yoon.

It brought the total number of justices to eight on the nine-member court. Any decision in the Yoon case will require the agreement of at least six judges.

Yoon's ruling People Power Party criticized Choi's decision as "dogmatic" and lacking sufficient consultations.

Finance Minister Choi assumed the role of acting president on Friday after the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who had been acting president since Dec. 14 when Yoon was suspended from power.

Yoon faces investigations on allegations that he led an insurrection, and a Seoul district court on Tuesday granted approval for his arrest, the first for a sitting president.