Netanyahu disputes Obama claim that Israel’s security community agrees Iran deal is working

Special to WorldTribune.com

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Israel took issue on August 5 with U.S. President Barack Obama’s claim that last year’s nuclear agreement with Iran is working to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Obama on August 4 said the agreement “worked exactly the way we said it was going to work” and “it’s not just the assessment of our intelligence community, it’s the assessment of the Israeli military and intelligence community, the country that was most opposed to this deal that acknowledges this has been a game changer and that Iran has abided by the deal and that they no longer have the sort of short-term breakout capacity that would allow them to develop nuclear weapons.”

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, perhaps the deal’s fiercest critic, said “Israel’s view on the Iran deal remains unchanged.”

Israel’s Defense Ministry said the deal was “harmful” and would not stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

It said “such agreements are not useful and undermine the fight…against terrorist states like Iran.”