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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/world/middleeast/israel-iran-deal-reaction-netanyahu.html
Israel Stunned by Trump's Iran Deal
(New York Times) David M. Halbfinger - Israel awoke to a new reality on Thursday as it absorbed the terms of President Trump's preliminary agreement to end the war with Iran. It accomplishes none of Israel's war aims. The deal's requirement that American forces retreat from the "proximity" of Iran within 30 days means that Iran can boast that it has chased the U.S. military out of the region. The agreement does nothing to address Iran's missile arsenal or its support of Iran's proxy militias, like Hizbullah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. By requiring that Israel withdraw its forces from Lebanon, the agreement seeks to handcuff Israel in a way that it was not before the war. The hundreds of billions of dollars that Iran may receive in sanctions relief, unfrozen assets, or reconstruction aid could wind up funding more missiles in Iran and aiding Tehran's militia allies around the Middle East. "It's a bad agreement in which the Americans are paying with cash, and got, at the maximum, a letter of intent," said Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to the Israeli prime minister and chairman of Israel's National Security Council. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that "additional challenges lie ahead of us," requiring "calmness, a firm stance on our security interests, and at the same time, maintaining the important connection with our American friends." He added that Israel "requires maintaining the security zone in southern Lebanon, and it requires that we not withdraw from it as long as Israel's security needs demand it."