Prime Minister’s office walks back Iran deal, Nazi comparison
August 8, 2016JTA – Hours after Israel’s Defense Ministry compared the Iran nuclear deal to the 1938 Munich Agreement — a failed bid by European powers to appease Nazi Germany — the Prime Minister’s Office scrambled to do damage control with the United States.
While Israel still does not support the Iran nuclear deal, it still considers the United States its greatest ally, the Prime Minister’ Office said in a statement Friday night.
The Prime Minister’s Office was blindsided by the Defense Ministry’s statement earlier in the day, according to Israeli news reports Saturday, and worked overtime Friday night to downplay it, including in a telephone call to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro.
Defending the deal Thursday, amid allegations that the U.S. paid Iran $400 million as “ransom” to secure the release of American prisoners, U.S. President Barack Obama said the “Israeli military and security community … acknowledges this has been a game changer.”
“By all accounts, it has worked exactly the way we said it was going to work,” he said.
Some high-level former and current Israeli defense figures have spoken out in favor of the deal, albeit with caveats.
But the Israeli government remains against the deal, which lifts sanctions in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear program, signed last summer between Iran and six world powers, including the United States. Israel and many American Jewish groups fiercely opposed the deal.
“While Israel’s view on the Iran deal remains unchanged, Prime Minister Netanyahu firmly believes that Israel has no greater ally than the United States,” reads the statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office.
“As the Prime Minister articulated last year at the United Nations, it is important now that both the who supported the deal and those who opposed it work together to achieve these three goals: Keep Iran’s feet to the fire to ensure that it doesn’t violate the deal; confront Iran’s regional aggression; and dismantle Iran’s global terror network.”
The statement concludes: Netanyahu “looks forward to translating these goals into a common policy and to further strengthening the alliance between Israel and the United States with President Obama and with the next U.S. administration.”
Similar posts
-
The Amazing Country of Israel
September 15, 2023Introduction Nestled in the heart of the Middle East, Israel is a nation with a remarkable histo...
-
Israel Safeguards The World From Terror Attacks
August 23, 2023Introduction In an era where terrorism poses a significant threat to global security, Israel sta...
-
Israel Helps The World With Water Recycling
August 10, 2023Introduction In a world grappling with the challenges of water scarcity and resource management,...
-
Israel's Remarkable Female Soldiers
July 26, 2023Introduction When we think of the Israeli military, we often conjure up images of well-trained s...
-
About Gal Gadot's Cleopatra Movie
July 18, 2023By Katy Rath Gal Gadot's new Cleopatra movie has been steeped in both anticipation and controver...
-
Israel Empowers The World Through Innovation
July 10, 2023BY: SOLVE ISRAEL'S PROBLEMS Introduction:In recent years, Israel has emerged as a global powerho...
-
The Jerusalem Embassy, 5 Years Later
May 22, 2023By Nikki Haley On May 14, 2018, something incredible happened. The United States...
-
Israel's Fauda Top TV Show in Arab Countries
February 1, 2023Even some Arab countries without diplomatic relations with Israel are hooked on the action-packed d...