While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been forced to praise the US-Iran deal and to choose words that appease US President Donald Trump, Israeli military and political officials expressed deep concern over the emerging agreement, likely to be officially signed next Friday.
Israeli officials fear the deal may fail to eliminate the threats posed by Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and could also restrict Israel's freedom of action against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Officials said Israel cannot return to the reality before the October 7, 2023, attack, when it says its hands were tied while threats built up along its borders.
Current Israeli government officials have said little about the Trump-Iran understanding, apparently for fear of upsetting the US leader. Instead, the Israeli military leaked statements on behalf of a “senior military source” expressing concern about the cessation of operations in Lebanon.
Israeli officials said the text of the agreement remains “an enigma,” not explicitly speaking about the dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program, the obliteration of Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and production capacity, and Iran’s ability to connect itself to its proxies. They listed Israel’s five main problems with the proposal:
First, there are no clear answers regarding the treatment of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, and not enough curbs on Iran’s nuclear program.
Second, the text of the deal does not clearly mention Iran’s intention to stop the production of ballistic missiles.
Third, the key unresolved question is how much funds Iran will receive. A compromise has been reached: Iran will not receive cash, but will be able to purchase medicine and food using frozen funds. The Americans insist that frozen assets will not be released before the uranium stockpiles are addressed, but that issue will be negotiated later.
Fourth, the deal lays out no clear mechanism for forcing Iran to halt its support for its proxy forces, including Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas.
Fifth, Israel had not been a party to the Trump administration’s negotiations with Iran and is being left out of the potential peace.
Yedioth Ahronoth quoted a senior Israeli official saying on Saturday evening that the agreement expected to be signed between the United States and Iran is “not a good deal,” warning that Israel has little ability to influence the process despite the direct impact it could have on its security.
The official said the deal would be followed by negotiations expected to last 60 days. The resources Iran would receive during the roughly two months of negotiations and afterward could, at least in theory, allow the regime to rebuild its nuclear project and its ballistic missile program.
The newspaper said the American president is acting according to his own political and US interests.
“The frequent calls between Netanyahu and Trump appear to have only marginal influence. Israel is not only failing to shape the talks, it also does not really know what is happening inside them,” it wrote.
Trump and Netanyahu spoke by phone about the emerging deal with Iran, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
In a statement that intended to downplay the significance of the potential agreement, Netanyahu’s office said the two spoke about “the emerging memorandum of understanding with Iran regarding entry into negotiations.”
In the conversation, Netanyahu expressed a rather optimistic take on an agreement, according to his office.
“Although Israel is not a party to the memorandum of understanding,” his office said, “the prime minister expressed his appreciation for President Trump’s commitment that the final agreement reached at the conclusion of the negotiations will include the removal of enriched material, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, limitations on missile production, and the cessation of Iran’s support for its terrorist proxies in the region.”
