Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel s military correspondent.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz, left, fist-bumps US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Nevatim Air Base in southern Israel on April 12, 2021. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Monday said he told his American counterpart, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, that any future agreement to address Iran’s nuclear program must be “more robust” than the 2015 accord it will replace, without any “expiration dates.”
The defense minister expressed Israel’s position on the matter to Austin as the US defense secretary made his first visit to the Jewish state this week. It was also the first visit to Israel by a Biden administration official and one of the first trips abroad by any Biden administration official anywhere in the world.
Defense minister says US is a 'full partner across all operational theaters'; Austin doesn't mention Tehran, pledges consultations to ensure Israel's regional military superiority
JNS.org - An egregious lie has been making the rounds lately. It is a timeworn smear against the Jewish people.
The awkwardness on the Israeli side, which is increasing in light of the country’s upcoming election and the intense rivalry between Netanyahu, Gantz and Ashkenazi, will make it very hard for Israel to wage an effective campaign with a US administration that already seems to lack empathy for Israel. The Americans have committed to keeping Iran away from a nuclear weapon, but their open eagerness to rejoin the original nuclear deal is very disturbing, given the huge holes in it. Hints from Washington that these holes will be addressed going forward sound particularly naive the moment the deal is renewed and the sanctions on Iran are lifted, Iran will have no incentive to agree to any concessions.
Israel Wants to Derail Biden s Plan to Rejoin Iran Nuclear Deal Bloomberg 1/12/2021 David Wainer and Ivan Levingston
(Bloomberg) Israel is already plotting how to derail one of Joe Biden’s signature foreign-policy promises.
The high-profile campaign that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waged against the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran failed to block the 2015 agreement. Officials are now weighing whether that sort of public crusade or behind-the-scenes engagement will be the most effective strategy with Biden, a senior Israeli official said, emphasizing that no decision has been made.
Israel will start by sending a stream of envoys on visits to Washington, the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss private deliberations. It’s stated publicly that it doesn’t want the U.S. to abandon sanctions on the Islamic Republic without a new deal, and that a tougher stance should be taken toward its nuclear project, ballistic missile prog