Defense officials disagree with PM over canceling Iran deal — report

Senior officials within Israel’s defense establishment are strongly opposed to the US dismantling the Iran nuclear deal, breaking ranks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, according to a report on Friday.

Several sources who asked to remain anonymous told the Haaretz newspaper that tearing up the deal with Tehran would be damaging to Israel and the region.

On October 15, US President Donald Trump is due to decide whether Iran has breached the 2015 nuclear agreement, and critics fear he may abandon an accord they believe prevents Tehran from building a nuclear bomb.

Netanyahu is expected to meet Trump on Monday in New York and has said he will encourage a US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or amendments to the deal.

On Tuesday, speaking in Argentina, Netanyahu rejected recent reports claiming that Israel and Saudi Arabia were no longer interested in scrapping the landmark deal.

“In the case of Iran, there have been some news stories about Israel’s purported position on the nuclear deal with Iran. So let me take this opportunity and clarify: Our position is straightforward. This is a bad deal. Either fix it — or cancel it. This is Israel’s position,” said Netanyahu.

However, according to the Haaretz report, much of Israel’s defense establishment is wary of Trump walking away from the deal.

Anonymous sources told the newspaper that as far as the Israeli intelligence community is aware, Iran has not violated any of the clauses of the deal in the two years since it was signed. Furthermore, the intelligence community has no evidence the Iranians have restarted their nuclear project, the sources said.

Both the Israeli intelligence community and the United Nations inspectors believe Iran is trying to abide by the terms of the deal to maintain its standing within the international community.

The defense officials, who believe the existing deal is flawed, are concerned that annulling it could leave the US and Israel out of the loop on Iran, the report said.

Netanyahu and Liberman believe canceling the deal would lead to new sanctions imposed on the regime, the report said. However the defense officials argue that the other world power signatories to the deal would continue their relationship with Iran, leaving the US — and Israel — without any say or oversight over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

A senior source told the paper that Netanyahu and Liberman think the international community is deeply divided already, particularly in light of the shaky relationship between the US and Russia, and is incapable of doing anything about Iran.

The defense establishment feels Israel’s interests would be better served if Trump would work to improve the terms of the deal, rather than do away with it, the report said.

The reported rift between the politicians and the defense community in Israel parallels a similar division in Washington. Trump has criticized the deal, but some of his top advisers believe he should preserve it.

The deal, pushed by former US President Barack Obama, provides for the US government to waive wide-ranging oil, trade and financial sanctions for periods of up to 120 days, so long as Tehran takes steps to dismantle its nuclear program.

Trump has repeatedly railed against the deal, calling it the worst ever negotiated, and a “direct national security threat” which must be “stopped in Congress.”

International Atomic Energy Agency investigators and America’s own intelligence community say that the Iranians are holding up their end of the bargain.

On Thursday, Trump agreed to continue to exempt Iran from nuclear-related sanctions for now.

But he slapped new measures against targets accused of cyber attacks or fomenting militancy, and a senior administration official said the extension of sanctions relief was merely a “holding action.”

Raphael Ahren and AFP contributed to this report.