JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said it would be a mistake 鈥渢o go back to business as usual with Iran,鈥� signaling Israeli resistance to an expected push by President-elect Joe Biden to revive the international nuclear deal with Iran.
Netanyahu spoke at a press conference with Robert O鈥橞rien, President Donald Trump鈥檚 national security adviser.
But his comments appeared to be aimed at Biden, who has said the US will rejoin the nuclear deal if Iran agrees to strict adherence. The deal, which lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program, has unraveled since Trump withdrew from it in 2018.
Netanyahu led an unsuccessful fight against the deal when it was negotiated by then-President Barack Obama in 2015 and welcomed Trump鈥檚 withdrawal three years later. Netanyahu says the deal will not prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and fails to address other belligerent Iranian behavior, such as its support for proxies across the region and its development of a long-range missile program.
鈥淎s long as Iran continues to subjugate and threaten its neighbors, as long as Iran continues calling for Israel鈥檚 destruction, as long as Iran continues to bankroll, equip and train terrorist organizations throughout the region and the world, and as long as Iran persists in its dangerous quest for nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them, we shouldn鈥檛 go back to business as usual with Iran,鈥� Netanyahu said Sunday. 鈥淲e should all unite to prevent this major threat to world peace.鈥�
O鈥橞rien arrived days after the US announced that Israel and Morocco were establishing full diplomatic relations 鈥� making it the fourth such deal between Israel and an Arab state brokered by the outgoing Trump administration.
O鈥橞rien said the Trump administration鈥檚 pressure campaign against Iran has been successful and said the string of agreements between Israel and Arab countries would cement what he called 鈥渢he legacies of peacemakers鈥� Trump and Netanyahu.