Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underscored the importance of maintaining close ties with the United States on Thursday, saying Washington had stood by Israel during the Middle East war.
Netanyahu’s remarks came as relations with his country’s most important ally have come under strain over the US-Iran agreement to halt the conflict, which Israeli analysts have sharply criticised, arguing it effectively locks in Iranian gains while deferring the issue most sensitive to Israel: its security.
“The struggle is not yet over, and further challenges lie ahead. They require calm judgement, steadfast defence of Israel’s security interests, and at the same time the preservation of our vital relationship with our American friends, who stood shoulder to shoulder with us in this fight — a partnership we deeply appreciate,” Netanyahu said at a function, according to a statement issued by his office.
Netanyahu has still not commented directly on the deal, though some of his coalition members dismissed it even before the text’s details were released on Wednesday.
The deal’s terms call for “an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon”.
While the agreement addresses the dilution of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, it makes no mention of how to tackle Iran’s missile programme — the dismantling of which had been a key US-Israeli objective during the war.
Iran’s missile infrastructure came under heavy US-Israeli bombardment in the conflict, but Tehran continued to respond with missile and drone attacks across the region.
– ‘Wake up’ –
On Wednesday, Trump even appeared to soften his position, saying it would be “unfair” for Iran not to have missiles.
“I’m saying that if other countries have them, it’s a little bit unfair for them not to have some,” Trump said.
“A ballistic missile is not the same thing as what we are talking about when we talk nuclear.”
And hours before the agreement was announced, Trump excoriated Netanyahu for launching attacks in Lebanon that threatened to derail it.
“He’s a very difficult guy,” Trump said of Netanyahu, “and to be honest with you, he should be very thankful to us for doing this. Because if Iran had a nuclear weapon, Israel wouldn’t be around for two hours.”
The US news website Axios reported that Trump understood Hezbollah had been firing rockets and drones at Israel and that Israel needed to defend itself, but that he felt Netanyahu had, in recent days, been escalating disproportionately.
Citing a US official, Axios also reported that Trump was troubled by the scale of civilian casualties in Lebanon and objected to Israel levelling entire buildings to eliminate a single Hezbollah commander.
On Thursday, Netanyahu reiterated that Israeli forces would remain in southern Lebanon.
“We will restore security and prosperity to the communities of northern Israel,” he said.
“That requires maintaining the security zone in southern Lebanon, and it requires that we not withdraw from it for as long as Israel’s security needs demand it.”
US Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, rebuked Israeli ministers who criticised the Iran deal, saying they should “wake up and smell the reality”.
“If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” Vance told a briefing at the White House on Thursday.
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