The peace agreement being finalized between the US and Iran is bad for Israel, Yair Lapid, the leader of the Israeli opposition and former prime minister, said on Saturday.
US President Donald Trump announced that a deal will be signed on Sunday, while Iran said a memorandum of understanding will be signed in the coming days.
“The emerging agreement achieves none of Israel’s war objectives. The regime survives, its missile program remains intact, and Iran can rebuild its nuclear program,” Lapid wrote on X. He argued that the deal represents “a complete failure” by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The US and Israel launched a joint military operation against Iran on February 28, prompting retaliatory strikes across the Middle East and leading Tehran to close the Strait of Hormuz to nearly all shipping, triggering a surge in global energy prices. The exchange of strikes largely ceased after a truce was reached in April.
Although the exact details of the agreement have not been made public, Trump said Iran will pledge to not seek nuclear weapons, and the US will dilute and destroy the Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile.
Iran has long insisted that uranium enrichment is its sovereign right. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the memorandum of understanding will focus on ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, while providing a 60-day window for further negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran has denied that it seeks to develop nuclear weapons.
The US and Israel previously demanded that Iran completely dismantle its nuclear program and surrender its entire stockpile of enriched uranium. Netanyahu also repeatedly called on Iranians to topple their government.
“As long as I am prime minister of Israel, Iran will not obtain nuclear weapons. There is complete agreement between President Trump and me on this issue,” Netanyahu said on Friday.
According to Axios and CNN, however, the news that a deal is close to being reached caught Netanyahu by surprise. Trump said Israel will have no choice but to accept the agreement and acknowledged that he pressured Netanyahu to halt Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon during several heated phone calls.
Both Democrats and dissident Republicans have accused Trump of going to war with Iran on Israel’s behalf. Trump has rejected the claim, insisting that he was acting in the interests of the US.