Bennett said the current time is “complex,” because there are agreements even with Israel’s greatest allies.
https://www.jpost.com/-By LAHAV HARKOV
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is seen addressing a conference at Reichman University in Herzliya, on November 23, 2021.(photo credit: AMOS BEN GERSHOM/GPO)
Israel will continue to maintain its freedom to act against Iran even if the US returns to the 2015 Iran deal, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday.
“Israel against Iran is really the whole world’s battle against a radical Islamist regime that seeks a Shi’ite hegemony under a nuclear umbrella,” Bennett said. “We hope the world won’t blink, but even if they do, we don’t plan to blink.”
Bennett said the current time is “complex,” because there are agreements even with Israel’s greatest allies.
The US and Iran are set to return to indirect negotiations in Vienna next week to return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which would have the US lift sanctions while imposing limitations on Iran’s uranium enrichment. Israel opposed the original deal and is against a return to it, especially in light of the Iran’s nuclear advances, which go far beyond what agreement addressed.
“Even if there is a return to an agreement [with Iran], Israel is not a side to it, is not obligated by it,” Bennett stated.
Bennett said the JCPOA was like “a sleeping pill” for Israel’s defense establishment after 2015, leading it to be less prepared to strike.
“We won’t repeat the mistakes of last time, when the agreement put us to sleep,” he said. “We will maintain freedom to act.”