The intense efforts by world powers to reach agreement with Iran on its nuclear program are sending shockwaves through Israeli politics and diplomacy.

Just this past week, the Iran deal drama set off an impressive number of clashes, both publicly and behind the scenes. In Israel, caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid went head-to-head with Mossad Director David Barnea. The spy agency chief, for his part, collided head on with the US administration, which he slammed in briefings to reporters. As always, former Prime Minister and current opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu took advantage of the fallout for his own political needs ahead of the Nov. 1 elections, attacking Lapid directly, and the United States as a “side benefit.”

These squabbles are overshadowed by the official, polite disagreement with the Biden administration over its continued bid to reach a deal with Tehran, which both Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz believe could generate destructive regional chain reactions.

The escalation began Aug. 25, when Barnea conducted a series of media briefings, which generated harsh headlines, especially at the expense of the Biden administration. Barnea argued that the emerging deal with Iran was an unprecedented fraud. He accused the United States of willingness to ink the agreement and start implementing it even before the verdict is in on the findings of international inspectors at Iran’s suspected nuclear sites, dubbed the agreement a “strategic disaster,” and blamed the United States for giving in to most of Iran’s demands in order to wind up negotiations at all cost.