Israeli Defense Minister: Policy towards Iran is determined by the government, not intelligence and security agencies

Following the publication of a report by an Israeli newspaper about high-ranking army commanders' "support" for the revival of the JCPOA, Benny Gantz denied the report and said that the policy related to the nuclear negotiations is determined by the Israeli government, not the intelligence and security forces.

After an Israeli newspaper reported that key commanders in the Israeli military support the finalization of a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned on Sunday, June 26, that policy regarding Iran's nuclear talks is determined by the government, not intelligence and security forces.

According to Reuters, Benny Gantz tweeted: "While the Israeli security forces have a say in Iran policy, making this decision is within the government's authority."

According to a report in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper published last Friday, senior generals in Israel's military intelligence and strategic planning believe that reviving the 2015 agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which limited Iran's nuclear program, would benefit Israel.

These intelligence and security commanders believe that by reviving the JCPOA, Israel can buy time and prepare itself for a possible attack on Iran with the aim of preventing the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Regarding these comments, the Israeli Defense Minister said: "We will continue to have open and in-depth discussions only behind closed doors. Any other method would harm the security of the State of Israel."

According to Reuters, Gantz's warning was apparently also directed at the Mossad spy service, which, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, is opposed to any new nuclear agreement with Iran.

The Times of Israel writes that, according to an unsourced report in Hebrew-language media on Sunday, senior Israeli defense officials are divided over the country's position on the JCPOA revival talks.

According to the news site "Ynet", several Israeli generals, including the head of military intelligence, have begun to support the revival of the JCPOA between Iran and world powers, contrary to official Israeli policy.

Israel officially says it strongly opposes returning to the JCPOA. At the time of the 2015 nuclear deal, Israel considered Iran unreliable and incapable of fulfilling its commitments under the JCPOA.

Successive Israeli governments have warned for decades that Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons.

But Ynet says senior intelligence officials now believe a bad deal is better than no deal, because it gives Israel time to prepare for widespread military action against Iran.

Over the past year, the Israel Defense Forces have stepped up their efforts to prepare for a serious military threat against Iran. Dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets conducted aerial maneuvers over the Mediterranean Sea earlier this month, simulating an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.

The Times of Israel adds that the news site mentioned high-ranking generals who support the revival of the JCPOA, including Aharon Haliveh, the IDF's director of military intelligence, Brigadier General Amit Sa'ar, commander of the military intelligence research department, General Oren Setter, commander of the IDF's strategic department, and Tal Khelman, the military official responsible for military affairs in Iran.

The report said that intelligence generals believe that Benny Gantz also supports reviving the JCPOA. Gantz has previously said that he supports a “more comprehensive, stronger and longer” agreement.

Ynet adds that the Mossad believes that the agreement to revive the JCPOA is detrimental to Israel and could prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear capabilities for a maximum of two and a half years.

The report adds that Mossad believes that the purpose of publishing the positions of intelligence officers was to influence Yair Lapid, the future interim prime minister, to support the process of revitalizing the JCPOA.

In response to these reports, Israel's defense minister said on Sunday that discussions related to the nuclear deal with Iran should remain behind closed doors.

Benny Gantz wrote on Twitter that the Israel Defense Forces "deals day and night with the Iranian threat as the most important and urgent strategic issue for Israel's security at the moment."

The Israeli Defense Minister wrote: "This work is being done in coordination between all security branches, and while there is freedom of opinion, decisions are made by political ranks."

The European Union and Iran agreed last Saturday that nuclear talks, which had been deadlocked for weeks, would resume soon.

Although Israel is not a party to the negotiations, its concerns about the outcome of the negotiations and its long-standing threats of unilateral military action against Iran are among the concerns of Western countries.

These developments come at a time when Israel is experiencing political instability, and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett recently announced early elections.

Source: DW