BICOM

Israel’s prime minister issued a statement last Friday in an attempt to ease tensions with the US after the Defence Ministry criticised the US president over the Iran nuclear deal.

The statement said: “While Israel’s view on the Iran deal remains unchanged, Prime Minister Netanyahu firmly believes that Israel has no greater ally than the United States.”

It added that as the prime minister articulated last year at the UN, it was “important now” that both those who supported and opposed the deal should work together to keep “Iran’s feet to the fire” to ensure that it doesn’t violate the deal, confront Iran’s regional aggression, and dismantle Iran’s global terror network.

The statement further committed to “translating those goals into a common policy and to further strengthening the alliance between Israel and the United States with President Obama and with the next US Administration”.

Netanyahu issued the strong statement following an unusually-critical release from the Defence Ministry which compared the nuclear deal with the 1938 Munich Agreement.

The Defence Ministry statement was itself a response to earlier remarks by Obama celebrating a year since the nuclear deal. Obama claimed that Israel now supports the deal, saying: “Israel is now behind it…. Israeli military and security community… acknowledges this has been a game changer.”

Netanyahu’s response stressed that Israel did not now support the deal, but felt that Iran must be forced to uphold its side. They were seen as a conciliatory gesture to the US administration at a time when Israel and the US are negotiating a military aid package.

Other Israeli political leaders have attacked the Defence Ministry statement. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid called it “a combination of diplomatic irresponsibility and further harm to US-Israel relations… this is yet another example of how the current government does not function in international relations”. Meretz leader Zahava Galon also criticised the statement.

The Defence Ministry statement was surprising to some. In opposition and as Foreign Minister, Lieberman had stressed the importance of the US-Israel relationship and was a critic of Israeli politicians who attacked the Obama administration.

Despite the one-year-old nuclear deal, Iran executed a top nuclear scientist last week for treason. Shahram Amiri, an isotope expert, disappeared in 2009 from Mecca and re-appeared in the US. Iran subsequently accused US intelligence services of kidnapping him. The situation was confused by a number of videos released by Amiri where he claimed to have been kidnapped and to be happy in the US. He eventually returned to Iran and was greeted as a hero.