WILL ISRAEL 'COME TO TERMS' WITH IRAN DEAL?

Despite calling nuclear accord "an historic mistake", some say Netanyahu may be softening his tone.

The recent agreement in Geneva between the world's major powers and Iran over its nuclear programme is a bitter pill that Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has spent much of the past week choking on.
For much of the past decade, Netanyahu has been leading the chorus of doom about Iran, warning of the imminent threat posed by its supposed pursuit of a nuclear bomb.
Seven years ago, as leader of the opposition, Netanyahu issued one of his characteristic warnings: "It's 1938 and Iran is Germany. And Iran is racing to arm itself with atomic bombs." The leadership in Tehran, he added, was "preparing another Holocaust for the Jewish state".
Despite the available intelligence, almost all politicians in Israel publicly share the assumption that Iran is close to secretly building a nuclear warhead, with many further claiming that Tehran's first priority will be to destroy Israel. More generally, an Iranian bomb is seen as a threat to Israel's nuclear monopoly in the Middle East, and likely to give Iran much greater influence both in the region and in Washington.
There is also the fear that an Iranian bomb might push Arab states to pursue their own nuclear arsenals, further eroding what Israel calls its "qualitative military edge". It emerged this month that Saudi Arabia has been in talks with Pakistan about acquiring a nuclear weapon.
'Existential' interests
Netanyahu has therefore been able to cast himself as the defender-in-chief of the Israeli interests that he describes as "existential". He, more than anyone else, has dared to risk souring relations with the White House over the issue. The prime minister is also reported to have seriously considered a go-it-alone military strike against Iran, but was prevented by vehement opposition from most of Israel's military and security leadership.

Israel condemns pact as "historic mistake"

So when news of the deal emerged, secured in large part through months of back-channel negotiations that Israel knew nothing about, Netanyahu could barely contain his anger. He labelled the deal, which mildly eases the current sanctions in return for concessions from Iran on its uranium enrichment programme and increased international oversight, as a "historic mistake".
"Today the world has become a much more dangerous place because the most dangerous regime in the world has taken a significant step toward attaining the most dangerous weapon in the world," he said. This interpretation has been widely echoed by Israeli pundits and commentators, many of whom have adopted the analogy of the appeasement of Hitler by Western leaders at Munich in 1938.
Senior government ministers went on the offensive too. Naftali Bennett, the economy minister and leader of the right-wing, pro-settler Jewish Home party, warned US television viewers that the agreement was a prelude to "a nuclear suitcase" blowing up in New York and Madrid within five years.
Avigdor Lieberman, the far-right foreign minister, joined the prime minister in condemning the deal and hinting that Israeli military action was still possible. "We have to be serious enough to take responsibility for our fate," he said. "As always, all options are on the table."
Coming to terms?
But there are already strong signs that Netanyahu and his ministers are rethinking their initial, confrontational stance towards the US. Yossi Alpher, a former adviser to Ehud Barak, who was until recently Netanyahu's defence minister and shared his hawkish policy on Iran, said Netanyahu was showing signs that he was coming to terms with the outcome in Geneva. Read More