Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Israel can live with a new Iran nuclear deal in an interview published on Wednesday.
“The current U.S. approach of putting the Iran nuclear program back in a box, I’d accept that,” the Defense Minister said speaking to Foreign Policy Magazine.
3 View gallery
Defense Minister Benny Gantz speaking at a conference on terrorism at the Reichman University earlier this week
(Photo: Yair Sagi)
Gantz said he was doubtful that the diplomatic tract will succeed in reversing Iran's progress in its nuclear ambitions
Gantz said Israel was keen to see what he called "a viable U.S.- led plan B," that would include political, diplomatic, and economic pressure imposed on Tehran by the United States, Europe, Russia, and China, should the nuclear talks fail.
“Israel has no ability to lead a real plan B, we can’t put together an international economic sanctions regime. This has to be led by the U.S.,” he said. “Iran has to fear that the U.S. and its partners are serious.”
3 View gallery
World powers meet with Iranian officials in Vienna to discuss a U.S. return to the 2015 nuclear deal
(Photo: Reuters)
He claimed Israel has a plan C but that would involve military action. “If push comes to shove, we’ll get there," he said adding that although Israel does not equal the power of the United States, "we have our capabilities.”
When asked about Israel's ongoing conflict with the Palestinians and the possible resolutions of it, Gantz said that Jewish settlements will not be removed from the West Bank. However, he said, “we need two political entities here.”
The Biden administration repeated its position that the conflict must be resolved by a two-state solution, in his meeting with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett last month.
3 View gallery
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and U.S. President Joe Biden during their meeting at the White House in late August
(Photo: AP)
Gantz met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last week during with a number of initiatives were decided upon to improve the lives of West Bank residents. The defense minister called the improvement of a dialogue with the Palestinians, “a value of the highest importance.”
“Abbas is still dreaming of the 1967 lines [as the basis for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and an end to the conflict]—this won’t happen,” Gantz said in the interview.