US-Iran Deal Does Not Obligate Israel, Netanyahu Tells Blinken

The two leaders also discussed military and intelligence cooperation, and artificial intelligence.

By Israel Today Staff | | Topics: Iran, America
Netanyahu and Blinken at a 2021 press conference in Jerusalem. Photo by Marc Israel Sellem/POOL
Netanyahu and Blinken at a 2021 press conference in Jerusalem. Photo by Marc Israel Sellem/POOL

Israel will still attack Iran if it feels the need to do so, even if the Biden administration succeeds in brokering a new nuclear deal with the ayatollahs.

That was the underlying message Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken when the two spoke yesterday.

Netanyahu “reiterated his consistent position that returning to the nuclear agreement with Iran would not stop the Iranian nuclear program and that no arrangement with Iran will obligate Israel, which will do everything to defend itself,” according to a readout from the prime minister’s office.

Israel’s previous prime minister, Naftali Bennett, told Washington something similar when it last tried to treat with Tehran just over a year ago.

The Israeli leader also expressed appreciation for the US-Israeli military and intelligence cooperation, “which is at an all-time peak,” and for recent “sincere talks” between the two countries.

Netanyahu “suggested advancing Israeli-American cooperation on artificial intelligence,” and the two discussed “the challenges and opportunities in the region,” per the readout.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller later stated that the two leaders “discussed areas of mutual interest, including expanding and deepening Israel’s integration into the Middle East through normalization with countries in the region.”

Blinken “discussed the need to uphold the commitments made at regional meetings in Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh to avoid measures that undermine the prospects for a two-state solution,” Miller added. “He also discussed broader regional challenges, such as the threat posed by Iran, and underscored the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and our 75-year-old partnership.”

With reporting by JNS.

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