Ben Caspit
Al-Monitor, Aug. 23, 2022
A sense of impending doom has taken hold of Israel’s top security echelons. Situation assessments and working assumptions over the past two weeks have led to the inescapable conclusion that world powers will sign a deal with Iran on its nuclear program. The disagreements between the more pessimistic views of the Mossad agency and the more relaxed approach of military intelligence have all but dissipated.
A top security source told Al-Monitor this week that the agreement would be signed sooner or later because both US President Joe Biden and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei want it. “Unfortunately, Biden wants it more, and the West has gradually given in to Iran on almost all the clauses. Both sides are ripe for signing; the Iranians know they will not get more than they already received and President Biden aspires to sign before the mid-terms,” the source said on condition of anonymity, referring to the upcoming November congressional elections.
The source noted, “The deal about to be signed is nothing short of a catastrophe, not just for Israel but for the region as a whole. This is a resounding victory for Iran, which will get billions of dollars in the coming years and up to a trillion dollars by 2030 just so the world can get an additional delay of a month or two in the completion of Iran’s bomb. This is nothing short of madness and complete bankruptcy, and Israel must warn against it because there is no one else who can do so. Sadly, this is all happening at the instigation of Israel’s greatest ally, but that is the situation and we will have to deal with it.”
Israel insists it will not be bound by the agreement. The top security source added, “We will keep using all the ways and means at our disposal to prevent Iran from going nuclear, without taking into account this or any other agreement. We have no choice. A nuclear Iran is a serious issue for the West, but an existential one for Israel’s survival.” Source