War in the Middle East: in Israel, the agreement between Iran and the United States is strongly criticized and weakens Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy

An agreement with a bitter taste for Israel. This memorandum of understanding concluded between the United States and Iran, announced on Monday June 15, provides in particular for the end of the war also in Lebanon. The Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, warned him that “The Israeli army will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza for an unlimited period”. It is difficult to know whether Israel Katz is speaking on behalf of his Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently remaining silent, or whether he is speaking to his supporters while the country is in the middle of an electoral campaign.

A forced withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon in particular would be a failure in the new expansion strategy which was rethought after the massacre of October 7, 2023. Benjamin Netanyahu promised the Israelis to redraw the map of the Middle East, to eradicate its enemies in borders, even if it means illegally occupying part of the sovereign territory of neighboring countries.

If the United States forces the Israelis to abandon southern Lebanon, it would be the first time in almost three years that the troops of the Jewish state would have to retreat. Obviously, this would be a potentially fatal brake on Netanyahu’s ambitions, especially since the Prime Minister will have to, in the coming weeks, defend his record in order to hope to be re-elected and thus escape possible conviction in three corruption cases. This assessment is very seriously beginning to be damaged. In Gaza, Hamas is still in power and in the event of an agreement signed on Friday in Geneva, Iran could be strengthened and Hezbollah in Lebanon, therefore still on its feet.

For the moment, there has been radio silence on Benjamin Netanyahu’s side since this announcement of a draft agreement. He never took responsibility for the October 7 massacre, and it is therefore unlikely that today he wants to embody an Israel forced to make peace. However, the pressure has been very strong since Monday morning. His opposition is unanimous and is going strong. For Naftali Bennett, the most serious candidate for his succession, the agreement is “a dangerous turning point for the security of the country”. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak claims that“Israel is paying the price for Netanyahu’s blindness” and that “Iran is now stronger”. For the Democratic candidate Yair Golan, “the awakening is difficult for the Hebrew state”. He evokes “a weak, sick, isolated and without influence Prime Minister”.

Benyamin Netanyahu is also criticized by his far right. However, even within his majority, the Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, speaks “a bad deal for Israel and the free world”. According to the other settler, racist and supremacist of the government Itamar Ben Gvir, “the agreement does not bind its Prime Minister”. Benyamin Netanyahu, who has not yet been heard from, is cornered and cornered. He will all the same, at one point or another, have to come out of the silence