Israel has been trailing the negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 as an external expert. If we were to think of the negotiations as a public trial — on the way to a plea bargain — whereby the world powers represent the prosecution and Iran represents the defense, Israel could be viewed as an external expert witness for the prosecution. Israel and the [world] powers have been conducting intense consultations in this regard, a prerequisite for which is secrecy and discretion.

For the most part, the parties abide by this condition — neither one provides detailed briefings about the discussions that take place, except for general comments. Which is why on May 7, immediately after the long meeting in Jerusalem between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US National Security Advisor Susan Rice, the premier scheduled another meeting with Friends of the IDF in the US (FIDF), from which the following was leaked:

“Iran seeks to destroy the State of Israel and build atomic bombs for that purpose. I want to reiterate Israel’s position: We think that Iran must not have the capacity to make atomic bombs. Iran today has thousands of centrifuges, thousands of kilograms of enriched uranium to make a bomb. A bad deal would let them keep those capacities. It’s better to have no deal than a bad deal. I am concerned that we might face a bad deal allowing Iran to preserve its capacity to develop nuclear weapons. It would be better not to reach a deal than reach a bad one.”

Just in case anyone failed to get this, the next day, in an address commemorating the victory over Nazi Germany, Netanyahu sharpened the message. “Today we are much stronger and have far more capabilities. We have the ability to defend ourselves and repel the enemies. This is a big difference. We have a state. We have a military. We are determined and we are powerful. Nevertheless, we know that the best defense against Iranian nuclear weapons is [to ensure] that Iran does not have nuclear weapons. … What do they need those thousands of centrifuges for? Why do they need tons of enriched uranium? Only to manufacture nuclear weapons. Iran should be prevented from having this capacity. That should be the objective of the talks.”

To complete the message, a day earlier, during the traditional air force fly-by on the occasion of the Jewish state’s 66th Independence Day, a large fueling airplane was seen refueling an Israeli air force fighter aircraft in midair. This was described by briefed commentators in articles relating to the Independence Day holiday as “the most lethal capability yet.”
Read the article in full at Al-Monitor.