Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is hoping to use the coming weeks, ahead of the inauguration of a new Iranian president, to hold talks with Washington in order to positively influence the expected US return to the nuclear deal with Iran, Channel 13 news reported Friday.
The report said Bennett has removed a ban by his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Israeli officials discussing the details of the emerging renewed deal between the US and Iran.
Netanyahu had instructed security officials not to hold talks on the details of the deal with American officials, in an apparent effort to distance Israel from it.
Meanwhile a report in Haaretz Friday said Bennett has been warned by three former top defense officials that the emerging deal could be worse than the 2015 version. In a missive circulated in the government, the officials claim they have received “reliable and worrying information” that the US is “willing to accept a reduced accord that will see most of the sanctions set by the Trump administration since 2018 removed. In return, Iran will roll back only some of the steps it has taken since 2019 to promote its nuclear program.”
The missive by former Military Intelligence chief Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, and former top officials in the Israel Atomic Energy Commission claims Washington is willing to accept only partial limitations on Iran’s increased enrichment capacity and reduced UN inspections.
They say the US will likely rebuff criticism by asserting it will deal with such issues as part of a broader, improved accord that will be negotiated down the line, but express doubts that such a deal is feasible.
“Iran will be able to advance covertly and significantly reduce the time required to reach a nuclear arsenal,” they argue. READ MORE