One of the reasons for the establishment of this government, for all its weaknesses, was the belief that we need to fall in line with the Americans, the Democratic administration, on the matter of returning to the nuclear deal with Iran.
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Every step of the way, senior defense officials, chief among them Defense Minister Benny Gantz, opposed Netanyahu's policies pertaining to Iran's nuclear program. The same thought process can be found in Gen. Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who convinced himself that former US President Donald Trump, in his remaining days in office, was dangerous, and decided under the influence of senior leaders of the Democratic Party to impede Trump's ability to declare war on China.
Gantz's statement that "Israel can live with a new nuclear deal" indicates that the Israeli government has conceded an independent policy on the Iranian nuclear front. He even suggests involving China in the efforts to influence Iran. These are miserable remarks, particularly in light of talks with Iran over international monitors at its nuclear facilities. By and large, the Iranians agreed to allow cameras to be installed at their nuclear sites, but won't give the monitors the memory cards to watch what was recorded.
According to some of the assessments, despite the placatory acrobatics performed by the Americans and other global powers, it still isn't clear whether the Iranians will return to the deal. The Iranians are moving toward breakout capability. What Israel under the Bennett-Lapid-Abbas government is saying is that it has come to terms with Iran's nuclear blackmail and is willing – in order to keep Iran a year or several months away from a nuclear bomb or two – all economic sanctions imposed on Iran to be lifted.
Iran is employing nuclear blackmail to secure a generous economic gift from the international community, which it will use to tighten the noose of missiles around Israel's neck. Through its proxies, it will continue solidifying its hegemony in the Middle East. The policy of maximum pressure, which entails clandestine military activity, put Iran at a disadvantage and curbed its progress toward a nuclear weapon. It knew that beyond a certain point, Israel or the US would take action. Gantz and Bennett are essentially informing the Americans and the entire world that Israel is reverting to a position of dependence on the US, even after the fiasco in Afghanistan and after US President Joe Biden has made it abundantly clear that he isn't willing to take any type of action against Iran.
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