Israel’s US envoy says Jerusalem not completely opposed to US talks with Iran

Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog indicates some Israeli flexibility with the Biden administration’s effort to broker an interim nuclear agreement with Iran.

“Diplomacy isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” Herzog says when discussing the Biden administration’s efforts during an event hosted by the Democratic Majority For Israel, Haaretz reports.

“As far as we’re concerned, diplomacy in and of itself, and such understandings, are not necessarily bad to the extent that they can help deescalate a situation,” Herzog says.

“For us, for diplomacy to succeed to bring about a positive outcome, it has to be backed by very strong deterrence on Iran and a credible military threat. The Iranians will give nothing for free or voluntarily, and there ought to be very strong deterrence vis-à-vis Iran,” he adds, while reiterating Israel’s position that it is not bound by any nuclear agreement world powers will sign with Iran and will act against the Islamic republic if it deems that it must.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed officials about the details of a potential nuclear deal between the US and Iran that Israel would be able to accept, according to reports in Hebrew media.

Netanyahu downplayed the US-Iran negotiations as closing in on a “mini-agreement, not an agreement,” the reports by Walla and Channel 13 said, citing several unnamed lawmakers who took part in the closed-door, three-hour meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

“What’s on the agenda at the moment between Washington and Tehran is not a nuclear deal, it’s a mini-deal,” Netanyahu was reported to say. “We will be able to handle it.”