Gantz Says “Israel” Could Accept New Iran Nuke Deal

“The current US approach of putting the Iran nuclear program back in a box, I’d accept that,” Gantz told Foreign Policy in an interview published Tuesday, employing rhetoric used by the Biden administration to describe the goal of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA].

While “Israeli” military officials not in government have indicated a degree of tolerance for the JCPOA in the past, that sentiment has not extended to public officials, and Gantz appears to be the most senior cabinet member to reflect it on the record.

The entity’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett assured US President Joe Biden at the White House last month that he will not publicly campaign against Washington’s efforts to coax Iran back to the 2015 accord brokered by former president Barak Obama and deserted by his predecessor Donald Trump in 2018, “Israeli” officials said. That was a departure from Bennett’s predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu, who campaigned aggressively against the JCPOA and even accepted an invitation to address a joint session of Congress where he unsuccessfully lobbied lawmakers against the deal.

Bennett, however, has also made it clear that he opposes the nuclear deal and has not publicly stated that its resurrection is something that the “Israeli” entity could live with, as Gantz did in his Tuesday interview.

The war minister was also clear though that he wanted to see a “viable US-led plan B” that includes significant political, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Tehran imposed jointly by the US, Europe, Russia, and China, if talks in Vienna seeking a US-Iran return to the JCPOA fail to bear fruit.

Gantz also indicated to Foreign Policy that the “Israeli” entity had its own “plan C” that would involve military action.

“If push comes to shove, we’ll get there,” Gantz said, switching to English to make the point from the Hebrew in which the rest of the interview was conducted, adding: “We’re not America, but we have our capabilities.”

He went on to warn that if world powers fail to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, it’ll lead to a nuclear arms race. “Other states won’t just sit quietly… They’ll buy it directly off the shelf from Pakistan or whoever they can.”