Russian missile deal sets off alarm bells in Israel
Israel fears that the nuclear agreement, combined with Russian missiles, will strengthen Iran on all fronts, changing the balance of power of both Iran and Hezbollah vis-a-vis Israel.
On the afternoon of April 13, Israeli journalists assembled in one of the offices of the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. There they received a telephone briefing from Wendy Sherman, US undersecretary of state and chief US nuclear negotiator with Iran.
It was a comprehensive and convincing briefing and it clarified the familiar US messages of the last few weeks: While Israel’s worries are legitimate, only an agreement with Iran can halt advancement of the Iranian nuclear program. An Israeli or US military assault will only cause a regression of between one and three years in the Iranian nuclear program, but then they will only “rebuild everything from scratch” because no bomb can destroy the knowledge and experience that they have accumulated.
