Because there is a general consensus in Israel that the emerging deal between world powers and Iran is a serious threat to the Jewish state, it should not be kicked around like a political football and become a divisive campaign issue ahead of the November 1 election.
Even before they met for a security briefing yesterday, Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu exchanged barbs – even though both of them strongly oppose the deal.
It began at a briefing Lapid gave reporters on Sunday. “We must not revert to the situation we were in in 2015,” he said. “To this day, we are paying for the damage caused by Netanyahu’s speech in Congress, following which the US administration ended its dialogue with us and did not allow Israel to make amendments to the agreement.”
“We must not revert to the situation we were in in 2015,”
Prime Minister Yair Lapid
He was referring to Netanyahu’s controversial address to Congress against the original 2015 Iran deal that angered the Obama administration. The US later withdrew from the agreement under the Trump administration.
Netanyahu immediately shot back, accusing Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz of abandoning the battle against the revival of the 2015 deal: “In the past year, Lapid and Gantz completely abandoned the public struggle against the Iran nuclear deal. For 12 years, we fought this deal with determination and even caused the US to withdraw from it. But in their only year in power, Lapid and Gantz let their guard down and enabled the US and Iran to reach a nuclear deal that endangers our future.”
Netanyahu accused Lapid of failing to publicly challenge the Iran deal in international forums and in the foreign media, and of “waking up” too late, after major progress was made in the talks. As an example of the current government’s “helplessness,” Netanyahu said that Alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is in charge of Iran-related matters, “is currently vacationing in Italy, on the eve of the deal’s signing, and in an area without reception.”
Lapid lashed back, accusing Netanyahu of working on the Iranian problem “only for the press.”
“The damage he caused during his tenure to Israel’s two most important strategic issues – the fight against the Iranian nuclear weapon and relations with the US – is serious and deep, and we are still fixing it,” Lapid tweeted.
Israeli officials concerned
Israeli officials are concerned that the agreement will pave the way for the lifting of international sanctions against Tehran. This in turn would enable Tehran to receive and spend billions of dollars on developing its nuclear program and supporting its terrorist proxies, including Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, posing even more of a security threat to Israel’s national security.
During his term as prime minister, Netanyahu’s policy was to speak out forcefully against the Iran deal wherever and whenever possible. Lapid, on the other hand, has preferred – until recently – to voice his views mostly behind closed doors via diplomatic channels, while only occasionally vocally opposing the deal in public.
While their styles are different, their opposition to the Iran deal has been steadfast and there is no doubting the sincerity of both their stances in the national interest.
It is precisely for this reason, for the sake of the country, that Lapid and Netanyahu – and other politicians across the political spectrum – should not be trying to score political points on the Iran issue.
Lapid recently dispatched both Gantz and National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata to Washington to hammer home Israel’s opposition to the deal, and is said to be trying to organize another meeting with Biden on the matter. KAN News quoted a senior Israeli official as saying the idea is to schedule a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s annual session next month.
Last week, Mossad chief David Barnea made public comments calling the new nuclear deal “a strategic disaster” for Israel and saying the US “is rushing into an accord that is ultimately based on lies,” citing Iran’s claim that its nuclear activities are peaceful in nature.
Because it is rare for a Mossad leader to take such a public position and Barnea has no political agenda, his warning should be taken seriously. But from now until Election Day, we urge all politicians: Speak out against the Iranian deal by all means – but not against each other.