Ex-Shin Bet head calls on PM to end spat with Obama over Iran deal

A former head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop battling US President Barack Obama on the nuclear deal reached between Iran and world powers, and instead work more closely with the US administration to enhance Israel’s security.

In a New York Times op-ed, Ami Ayalon said Netanyahu should recognize the accord signed in July as a “done deal,” and slammed the PM’s “spiteful” battle with the US president over the accord as counter productive in a “post-deal world.”

Ayalon, who has previously come out in support of the deal, charged that Netanyahu’s efforts were limiting the effectiveness of international efforts to monitor Iran’s nuclear program and were damaging to US-Israel ties.

“He must stop fighting with the Obama administration and remove himself from the debate in Congress over the accord. Otherwise, he is jeopardizing an alliance that has been the cornerstone of Israel’s security for decades, and is undermining Israel’s defense.”

“The outcome of the deal, over the next 15 years, will depend on what steps the United States and Israel take now,” Ayalon wrote.

Instead of battling over the deal with the Obama administration, the former Shin Bet chief said Israel needed to cooperate with the US to jointly face new regional security challenges presented by the accord.

“Let the signing of the pact unite us, rather than divide us, as allies who know Iran may cheat and who, together, must be ready to stop it when that happens,” he wrote. “Killing the deal would kill American leadership in the Middle East, and that would damage Israel’s security.”

Ayalon said that Israel’s “legitimate” fears over Iran’s nuclear intentions should encourage Israel to cooperate with the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency to enhance its monitoring, and would result in increased intelligence gathering opportunities for Israel.

‘The outcome of the deal, over the next 15 years, will depend on what steps the United States and Israel take now’

Real deterrence, Ayalon said, includes a “viable” military option, and US preparation for such a possibility would go a long way to allay Israel’s concerns.

“It’s easy for politicians to sow fear among Israelis, but for Israel to flourish, its government must strike a balance between analyzing realistically the threats it faces and detecting opportunities. That balance is what Mr. Netanyahu lacks,” Ayalon said.

In contrast to near the unanimous criticism of the deal among mainstream Israeli officials who fear it will fail to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, Ayalon has previously expressed his support for the deal, and earlier this year called it the “best option” to curb Tehran’s weapons capabilities.

Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan on Monday also called for Israeli officials to stop criticizing the US over the nuclear deal. Dagan said Israel made a “strategic decision” to adopt a policy against the United States and “it is time to end it.”

Dagan has been a fierce critic of Netanyahu’s hard-line policies regarding Iran. He vocally opposed the prospect of an Israeli military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities that Netanyahu is said to have supported.

AP contributed to this report.