May, 24. The US President Donald Trump has announced that a peace deal with Iran is "largely negotiated," but despite public praise for Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is deeply anxious about the terms and has been significantly sidelined during the negotiations.
While Netanyahu publicly reiterated that Trump is "the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House" following a separate security incident, ha warned that "Israel will remain free to act unilaterally, regardless of any agreement Washington signs"
President Trump announced that a draft Memorandum of Understanding, if signed, is expected to feature a 60-day ceasefire extension between the US and Iran, reopening the Strait of Hormuz to allow free maritime navigation, lifting the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, unfreezing select Iranian assets held in foreign banks, a 30-day negotiation clock to establish permanent limits on Iran's nuclear program.
Today, Trump sought to temper immediate expectations by stating he instructed his team "not to rush into a deal" and that the blockade will remain in effect until the agreement is fully signed.
Despite Trump describing his recent call with Netanyahu as having gone "very well," according to the US press, deep strategic cracks have emerged between Washington and Jerusalem. The draft proposal notably contains no immediate constraints on Iran's ballistic missile program or its funding of regional proxies. Israeli analysts and opposition leaders have criticized the emerging deal as a potential "strategic fiasco" that leaves Iran stronger.
Netanyahu has explicitly stated that any final agreement must completely cover Iran's nuclear program, including dismantling enrichment sites and removing highly enriched material.
The Israeli government maintains a complex diplomatic position that prioritizes concrete, long-term security guarantees over personal political alignments. While Israeli leadership frequently aligns with Donald Trump's hawkish rhetoric against Tehran, structural skepticism remains regarding any international pact lacking permanent, verifiable safeguards against a nuclear Iran.
Israel officially and culturally views itself as the continuation of an ancient civilization—the Jewish people—spanning over three millennia, rather than merely a young nation-state established in 1948. This perspective forms the foundation of its national identity.
The United States is a relatively young country. Having declared its independence on July 4, 1776, it is under 250 years old. By world standards, this makes the U.S. a very recent nation, especially when compared to the Jewish civilization that span thousands of years.
