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Israel Would Support a Different Iran Deal
(Bloomberg) Zev Chafets - Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said at the Holocaust memorial ceremony earlier this month: "The nuclear deal with Iran is once again on the table. Such deals with extreme regimes are worthless. A deal with Iran that threatens us with annihilation will not obligate us." The war between Israel and the Islamic Republic is real and fundamental. A good new nuclear deal won't end it. A great majority of Israelis - including most opposition party leaders - share Netanyahu's view of the Iranian regime and its intentions. Even if he were to leave office tomorrow, his policy of resistance to a nuclear Iran would remain baked into the strategic doctrine and national psyche. Netanyahu is open to a different Iran deal. He insists that any new deal come with no expiration date, permits invasive international inspection of military as well as civilian nuclear sites, restricts Iran's missile and warhead capability and imposes sanctions on violators. Israel's demands also include a bilateral agreement with the U.S. for support against Iranian aggression and terrorism launched from Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and the Red Sea. For Israel, a retreat to the old, flawed deal, as Iran is demanding, would portend something much worse. As much as Biden would like to stay neutral, sooner or later he will have to pick a side. The writer served for five years as director of the Israel Government Press Office.