Israeli Prime Minister, Politicians Slam Nuke Deal

  • By Joanna Paraszczuk

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a news conference about the Iran nuclear deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and politicians from the ruling coalition and the opposition rushed to slam the Iranian nuclear deal as it was announced on July 14.

For his part, in a series of tweets, Netanyahu said the deal would give Iran "hundreds of billions of dollars to fuel its terror machine."

"When you are ready to make an agreement at any price -- this is the result. From the first reports we can already determine that this agreement is a historic mistake," Netanyahu tweeted in Hebrew.

The Israeli prime minister revisited his earlier criticisms that the P5+1 wanted to sign a deal with Iran "at any price."

"We knew that the desire to sign the agreement was stronger than anything and therefore we did not commit ourselves to prevent it, but we have committed ourselves to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and this commitment remains," Netanyahu vowed.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely called the deal a "capitulation of historic proportions by the west (sic) to the Iran-led axis of evil."

Danny Danon, Israel's minister of science, technology, and space, called the deal "dangerous for Israel and the entire free world."

"The money that will flow to Iran will first of all fuel terror in the streets of Jerusalem, Washington, and London," he tweeted. "I call on our friends and allies in the democratic parliaments in the world to reject the deal outright."

Education Minister Naftali Bennett of the far-right Jewish Home party tweeted that a "terror nuclear superpower" had been born.

"Israel will defend itself," Bennett vowed.

Bennett later tweeted that he was on a "hasbara (public diplomacy) offensive. I just finished CNN. We won't stop," he said.

Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's former Foreign Minister and chairman of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Is Our Home) party said in a Facebook post that a "black flag" hung over the agreement and it would be remembered as a "black day in history."

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman

"Agreements that ignore past experience endanger the future. The agreement with Iran will be remembered in history in the same line as the Munich agreement and the agreement with North Korea," Lieberman wrote.

Quoting a famous aphorism from Jewish religious leader, Hillel the Elder, Lieberman added, "The State of Israel must always make sure to defend itself and remember 'if I am not for myself, who will be for me?'"

Zionist Union co-leader and former foreign minister Tzipi Livni said the deal was "dangerous and destructive" because it strengthened Iran with money and weapons.

"The fact that the historical deal that affects our future was made in our absence is problematic, but alongside the criticism of Netanyahu's abandonment of the political field, it's important that we look forward and tell the world clearly about our position on security," Livni wrote.

"So we will mobilize and use our contacts in the international arena to influence and protect Israel's security, which is above political squabbles, because this agreement and its consequences are bad for security, bad for all of us."