Israel calls Trump’s Iran deal a ‘catastrophic capitulation’

Trump signed the memorandum of understanding with Iran’s President Pezeshkian at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday, drawing sharp condemnation from Israeli security figures.cnn
Critics say the deal fails to address Iran’s missiles, nuclear program, or proxy forces, while requiring U.S. and Israeli military withdrawals, according to Al Jazeera.aljazeera
Prime Minister Netanyahu has avoided direct criticism but distanced himself from the agreement, while former advisers called it “an Iranian victory.”timesofisrael

Israel Calls Trump’s Iran Deal a ‘Catastrophic Capitulation’

Israel absorbed with alarm the terms of President Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran on Thursday, with analysts and officials across the political spectrum describing the agreement as a disaster that fails to achieve any of the country’s war aims.

A ‘Diplomatic Oct. 7’

The 14-point agreement, signed Wednesday evening by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the Palace of Versailles during a G7-adjacent dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, drew immediate condemnation from Israeli security figures. Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called it “a bad agreement in which the Americans are paying with cash, and got, at the maximum, a letter of intent.” David Horovitz, the founding editor of The Times of Israel, labeled the deal “a catastrophic capitulation” in a lengthy opinion column. Nir Dvori, an analyst for Israel’s Channel 12 News, likened it to “a diplomatic Oct. 7” — a cataclysmic disaster for which Israel was wholly unprepared.cnn

Unmet Objectives

Israeli critics noted the agreement does nothing to address Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal or its support for proxy forces including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. The deal requires American forces to withdraw from the “proximity” of Iran within 30 days and constrains Israeli military action in Lebanon — requiring Israel to pull its forces from that country. Iran’s nuclear program, which Netanyahu spent his career trying to eliminate and which was Trump’s stated reason for joining the conflict, was left for a later stage of negotiations.aljazeera

Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser, offered a blunt assessment: “Iran came out stronger, and I believe is now the regional hegemon. They stood up to the U.S., the global superpower. They can have missiles, and there’s nothing in the agreement about the nuclear issue except we’ll talk about it. This is an Iranian victory over the U.S. and Israel.”dnyuz

Netanyahu’s Silence

Netanyahu and top officials in his government offered no public comment on the agreement overnight, leaving minor ministers and backbench lawmakers to respond. The prime minister had previously distanced himself from the deal while claiming the war’s “main goals” had been achieved. Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli speculated in a radio interview that Netanyahu would know how to say no to Trump about pulling out of Lebanon, just as he knew how “to bring the United States into this war”.timesofisrael

The agreement, which according to Al Jazeera leaves many crucial questions unanswered, provides Iran with potential sanctions relief and unfrozen assets worth hundreds of billions of dollars — funds that critics warn could end up financing more missiles and aiding Tehran’s militia allies across the Middle East.dnyuz