Israel Rushes to Prevent Any Agreement Between America and Iran and Threatens Unilateral Military Action

SadaNews - Israel is making intensive efforts to prevent any agreement between Washington and Tehran that focuses solely on halting the Iranian nuclear program without dismantling the ballistic missile program, amid concerns that the United States is adopting a model of limited strikes against Iran, similar to what happened with the Ansar Allah (Houthis) group last May, according to Israeli media.

Israeli Channel 12 reported today, Sunday, that in light of the anticipated visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, which comes against the backdrop of negotiations with Iran, the Israeli security establishment has become less optimistic about the chances of reaching an agreement.

On Saturday evening, Netanyahu's office announced that he would swiftly depart for Washington and will meet next Wednesday with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The meeting between the two parties was supposed to be held in about two weeks, reflecting the level of urgency and concern in Israel regarding the direction of negotiations with Tehran, according to the Israeli newspaper Maariv.

Estimates in Israel - according to Channel 12 - indicate that the aim of Iranian maneuvers is to buy time until something potentially disrupts the ability of Israel and the United States to launch an attack on Iran.

The Israeli channel pointed out that despite attempts to reach an agreement with Iran, the U.S. and Israeli armies continue to prepare for the possibility of negotiations collapsing.

According to the channel, Netanyahu and Trump are expected to discuss during their upcoming meeting plans and joint actions in defense and offensive areas, and the coordination of actions between the two countries.

It stated, "In Israel, they do not see that negotiations between the U.S. and Iran have changed the assessment of the situation that governs the situation here, and the estimate is that the chances of the two parties reaching an agreement are low," adding that the talks have not resulted in any real breakthroughs and have occurred indirectly.

Concerns of a Repeat of What Happened with the Houthis

The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli officials expressing concern that Trump might adopt the model of limited strikes similar to the recent U.S. operations against the Houthis in Yemen, fearing that this would leave Iran's vital capabilities intact.

Last May, the United States reached an understanding and agreement for a ceasefire with the Houthis after launching a wide attack on the group, keeping Israel outside of the agreement.

The Maariv newspaper confirmed the same point, indicating that the fear in Israel is that Trump will choose a limited number of targets and then announce after striking them that he has changed the reality and attacked Iran, whereas this would leave the threat ongoing and leave Israel facing the ensuing chaos, just like what happened in Yemen.

Existential Threat and Historic Opportunity

According to the Jerusalem Post, Israeli security officials recently informed their American counterparts that the Iranian ballistic missile program represents an existential threat and that Israel is prepared to act unilaterally if necessary.

Maariv reported that a military source said there is a historic opportunity that may not be repeated soon to strike a severe blow to Iran and remove existing threats that do not only target Israel but also other countries in the region.

The source added that Israel conveyed during recent talks with the Americans its intentions to target Iranian ballistic missile facilities.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar warned during a press conference today that the large numbers of ballistic missiles that the Iranian regime aims to produce will pose a danger to Israel and other countries, including European countries.

For his part, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen stated that any agreement with the current regime in Iran is worthless, and that the only solution is to change it, adding in an interview with the newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth" that even if an agreement is reached between the U.S. and Iran, Israel will deal with any future Iranian threat.

Israel's Four Demands

The Walla website, the news portal for Yedioth Ahronoth, reported that the list of Israeli demands formulated by the Israeli security establishment aims to ensure that the U.S.-Iran negotiations do not deviate from the course that Tel Aviv has outlined, which consists of four points:

1. Eliminating the nuclear program

2. Reducing the range of missiles

3. Stopping support for resistance

4. Close monitoring, through the return of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors with full powers, including surprise inspections of any Iranian military or civilian site without conditions.

On Friday, indirect negotiations took place between the United States and Iran in the Omani capital, Muscat, amid escalating tensions between them, against the backdrop of a U.S. military buildup in the region against Tehran.

Tehran sees that the U.S. administration and Israel are inventing justifications for military intervention and regime change in the country, threatening to respond to any military attack, even if limited, and insisting on lifting Western economic sanctions imposed on it in exchange for curbing its nuclear program.