On Sunday, Naftali Bennett was sworn in as Israel’s new prime minister, succeeding his predecessor and former ally Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year reign and bringing an end to the country’s political crisis, which had resulted in four elections in two years. The use of Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, to sabotage the nuclear deal with Iran is high on Bennett’s priority list as the new prime minister coordinates with the US on military and intelligence matters, according to the New York Times.
Within Israel’s political and military establishment, the Iranian nuclear deal had long been a source of contention. Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had expressed his dissatisfaction with the original 2015 agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, claiming that it did not provide Israel with adequate security against the possibility of Iran developing a nuclear weapon and did not address significant issues such as Iranian support for militias in neighbouring countries. Prior to being elected prime minister, Naftali Bennett expressed similar sentiments, promising to prevent Israel from acquiring nuclear weapons. “The renewal of the nuclear agreement is a mistake,” the New York Times quoted Bennett as saying at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, shortly before Sunday’s vote.
Bennett, a religious Jew by birth, had long positioned himself to Netanyahu’s right, but recently played kingmaker by forming a coalition with centrist and left-wing parties, an unlikely alliance that encapsulates Israel’s 73-year-old contradictions. Bennett’s stance on the Iran nuclear deal, however, is unlikely to differ significantly from that of his predecessor, according to the Amerian daily, adding that the new Israeli prime minister may try to influence some terms of the new agreement, something Netanyahu had refused to do.
Notably, even after Joe Biden was elected president of the United States of America and negotiations to rejoin the nuclear deal began, Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, continued its espionage operations against the Iranian military establishment over its nuclear ambitions. Mossad Director David Barnea recently stated that if Iran continues with its nuclear programme, Israel’s Mossad will respond “in full force,” implying that the spy agency was well aware of those officials within the Iranian military establishment associated with the nuclear programme.
According to the report, Israel’s new prime minister, Naftali Bennett, is trying to minimise disagreements with the US over the Iranian nuclear deal, which is a significant change from the adversarial stance it took with the Obama administration. Bennett is also likely to appoint a replacement for Gilad Ardan, a longtime Netanyahu ally and current Israeli ambassador to Washington, according to the daily.
