Who benefits from the passage of time? This is one of the key questions in the background as talks opened on Tuesday in Geneva between the six world powers and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program.

The West’s desire to quickly close a deal with Tehran, which was strongly felt during the United Nations General Assembly last month and even more so now that the nuclear talks have resumed, stems from the view that the window of opportunity is closing – that if the international community doesn’t reach an agreement with the Iranians soon, the new centrifuges will continue to spin and Iran will be able to establish more irreversible facts en route to attaining nuclear weapons.

The Israeli answer to this argument is surprising. Although public speeches by Israeli leaders keep stressing that time is running out, they are also opposed to the exertion of international pressure to sign a deal as quickly as possible. Despite the concern regarding Iran’s nuclear progress, Israel believes it is better to spend more time – and hold more rounds of talks – to make sure the West doesn’t come out of the negotiations with a bad deal. According to this line of thinking, only Tehran will benefit from haste.

Read this article in full at Haaretz.