Israelis Hate the Iran Deal

By Mihailo S. Zekic • June 16, 2026

Israeli politicians on both sides of the aisle are recognizing the new U.S.-Iran peace deal as a catastrophe for Israel.

The memorandum of understanding reportedly requires Israel to halt its war on Hezbollah in Lebanon, even though Israel is a sovereign nation and wasn’t a party to the agreement. Hezbollah is recognized as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States, and most of Lebanon’s elected government opposes it.
Members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have lambasted the deal. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, “The agreement with Iran is bad for Iran and the entire free world, period.” Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israel Defense Forces would defy such requirements and stay in Lebanon “indefinitely.”

It’s not just the politicians. Israel’s media are also largely against the deal.

Prominent anti-Netanyahu journalist Ben Caspit claimed U.S. President Donald Trump’s nuclear negotiations will make Barack Obama’s 2015 deal “perfect in comparison.”
Amit Segal, a journalist close to the prime minister, posted a quote to X attributed to Henry Kissinger: “It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.”

Leaders of the idf and Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, are united in their opposition. According to a Jerusalem Post report:

The vast majority of idf and Mossad top brass oppose the emerging Iran nuclear deal as insufficient in light of the power dynamics between the parties, the “blood and treasure” invested and the threats confronting Israel. … It is nearly unanimous, and senior officers and officials are making their views heard in private forums ….

The United States and the State of Israel share a heritage tracing back to the biblical kingdom of Israel. Isaiah 9:21, Zechariah 11:14 and other biblical passages prophesy that the brotherhood between the U.S. and Israel will be broken. The two countries entered the Iran war as allies, but its fallout could drive them further apart than ever.