US, Israel Discuss Plan B to Confront Iran’s Nuclear Program

Israeli National Security Council chairman Meir Ben-Shabbat (right) and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. AP
Israeli National Security Council chairman Meir Ben-Shabbat (right) and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. AP
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US, Israel Discuss Plan B to Confront Iran’s Nuclear Program

Israeli National Security Council chairman Meir Ben-Shabbat (right) and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. AP
Israeli National Security Council chairman Meir Ben-Shabbat (right) and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. AP

Former Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat revealed some of the Israeli demands made by his government during the friendly dialogue with the US administration, including setting a timetable for a possible Plan B if efforts to resume the nuclear talks with Iran fail.

In an interview with the Israel Hayom newspaper, Ben-Shabbat said that the government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett shared the same US position on the need to reach a solution with Iran through diplomacy, but demanded that a deadline be set for the implementation of the agreement.

Ben-Shabbat, who is very close to former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a strong supporter of his hardline policy against Iran, said: “We cannot be satisfied with just a general statement; we need to define the stages and timelines, and develop a plan for each scenario.”

These statements came in the wake of reports in Tel Aviv and Washington about secret talks between the two sides to discuss a US contingency planning often referred to as Plan B to deal with the Iranian nuclear program, in the event that talks aimed at reviving the nuclear deal failed.

According to Axios Correspondent Barak Ravid, these discussions reached their peak last week, with a top-secret joint US-Israel strategic working group on Iran - the first of its kind at this level since the new Israeli government took office in June.

The meeting, which was held via a secure, enclosed video circle, was chaired by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and Eyal Hulata, the head of the National Security Council in the Israeli prime minister’s office.

During the bilateral talks, the Israeli side underlined the need to move forward in coordinating a Plan B due to the stalemate in diplomatic talks on Iran’s nuclear prorgram, and Tehran’s acceleration of its nuclear activities.

According to Ravid, the US officials confirmed their intention to impose additional sanctions on Iran if the nuclear talks did not resume imminently.



Pressure Mounts on Netanyahu as Opposition Moves to Dissolve Parliament

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walks after a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walks after a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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Pressure Mounts on Netanyahu as Opposition Moves to Dissolve Parliament

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walks after a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walks after a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. (Reuters)

A member of Israel's right-wing coalition threatened to quit the cabinet on Wednesday and support an opposition motion to dissolve parliament tabled for next week, piling pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Latest opinion polls suggest that Netanyahu's coalition would lose power if an election was held today, with many voters unhappy over the continued war in Gaza prompted by the attack by Hamas on southern Israel in October 2023.

United Torah Judaism, one of two ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition, said it would withdraw from the government unless it secured last-minute concessions formalizing an exemption for ultra-Orthodox men from military service.

The opposition party Yesh Atid, led by former prime minister Yair Lapid, put forward a parliamentary vote for next week to topple the government, even as the Israeli army continues battling Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It would require the support of 61 out of the 120 members of the parliament to succeed.

"This Knesset (parliament) is finished. It has nowhere to go," Lapid said.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has remained silent on the looming crisis.

A spokesperson for United Torah Judaism leader Yitzhak Goldknopf told Reuters the party would vote in favor of dissolving parliament unless exemption legislation was passed.

With a week until the vote, Netanyahu and his allies still have time to negotiate over an issue that has dogged the coalition for months.

A source close to the government said, on condition of anonymity, that negotiations within the coalition were continuing.

Netanyahu's coalition of secular right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties holds an 8-seat majority in parliament. United Torah Judaism has 7 seats while its ally, Shas, the other ultra-Orthodox party, has 11.

BETTING ON A BLUFF

The coalition is sharply divided over whether young ultra-Orthodox men who are studying in religious seminaries should be exempt from mandatory military service.

Failing to pass an exemption risks a walkout by ultra-Orthodox lawmakers, while approving it could trigger a protest exit by secular parties.

Coalition member Ohad Tal of Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism party criticized Goldknopf for threatening to trigger elections and called on the ultra-Orthodox lawmaker to resign.

He urged others to negotiate a new arrangement but that a blanket exemption from military service could no longer stand.

Former Knesset member Ofer Shelah said Netanyahu was likely betting the ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were bluffing, given the polls suggested they faced defeat in any early election.

In March, ultra-Orthodox lawmakers threatened to bring down the government over the same issue, but time passed without any action. Resentment over the informal exemption given to religious seminary students is growing and lawmakers from the ruling coalition and opposition ranks say it is no longer tenable.

Netanyahu won election in 2022 and does not have to return to the polls until 2026. Historically, few Israeli governments serve a full term.

He has faced widespread criticism for failing to prevent the surprise October 2023 Hamas attack that killed roughly 1,200 people, and is facing growing calls from protesters and families of hostages still held in Gaza to end the war to secure their release.

But some in his coalition say the war must continue until Hamas is eradicated.

Political analysts say that the ultra-Orthodox lawmakers could simply quit the government to protest their failure to secure concessions, without toppling the ruling coalition.