Iran deal draws fire from across Israel's political spectrum

The US-Iran agreement announced Sunday night has sparked a wave of sharp criticism from both the Israeli opposition and coalition hardliners, with figures across the political spectrum condemning the deal as a blow to Israeli security interests while differing sharply on who bears responsibility.

Opposition leader and former IDF deputy chief Yair Golan delivered the harshest attack, calling it "a tough morning for Israel" and accusing Netanyahu of standing "weak, ill, isolated, and powerless" on the sidelines as Trump signed an agreement that he said funnels billions to Tehran, leaves Iran's nuclear infrastructure intact, and preserves its ballistic missile threat. "This is the culmination of long years of failure," Golan said, adding that replacing Netanyahu was "not just a political necessity — it is an existential security imperative."

Former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot was similarly scornful, saying what began with the gravest failure in Israeli history, October 7, had ripened into "the dismal result of a failed government" that operated without strategy or leadership courage. Eisenkot said residents of the north, abandoned for two and a half years, were waking up to find their homes still vulnerable to threats. He also criticized Netanyahu for refusing to face the public directly, noting that Israelis were learning about the agreement through foreign leaders rather than their own prime minister. "A vast chasm between the empty promises of 'complete victory' and this morning," he said.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, chairman of the Unity Party, called the outcome "a dangerous turn for Israel's security," saying the past thousand days had repeatedly exposed the greatness of the Israeli people and the weakness of their government. Bennett said Israel had proven it could win short, decisive wars, but that the outgoing government had instead led the country into "wars of shuffling and dragging." He said his party had a clear strategic plan to prevent Iran from going nuclear while bringing about the collapse of the regime through political, intelligence, economic, technological, and military means. "Our responsibility in the upcoming government is to ensure that all the enormous sacrifices of the people of Israel will not be in vain," he said.

From within the coalition, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also called the deal "bad for Israel and for the entire free world," though he stopped short of placing sole blame on Netanyahu, instead arguing that no other potential prime minister could have withstood even a fraction of the pressure being applied to the government. Smotrich vowed Israel would continue pursuing the toppling of the Iranian regime "in creative ways," and pledged to fight any IDF withdrawal from Lebanon, saying the north remained Israel's immediate test.

Defense Minister Israel Katz took a defiant tone, declaring that the IDF would remain in its security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza "indefinitely" regardless of pressure and that all terrorist infrastructure in those zones, including homes in contact villages used as terrorist outposts, would be destroyed. Katz said he had conveyed this position directly to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Sunday and that Netanyahu had made the same case to Trump. He warned that if Iran attacked Israel over Lebanon, Israel would respond "with all our might."

An Israeli official also told i24NEWS that Israel should not be required to withdraw from Lebanon as part of any understandings with Iran, though it remained unclear whether Israel would retain freedom of action against Hezbollah's military buildup beyond responding to direct attacks on soldiers and civilians.