As Iran Deal Nears, Israel Steps Up Efforts to Sabotage It

Netanyahu Lobbies Senate to Kill Lausanne Deal

The framework for a nuclear deal between Iran and the international community seems almost sure to be reached in the next few days, and that realization has set the stage for another round of anti-diplomacy efforts by Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has declared Iran “a year from the bomb” for literally decades now, is once again leading the charge against a deal, declaring that the terms are even worse than he imagined.

That’s really saying something, since just weeks ago on a DC visit Netanyahu was presenting the deal as an unresolvable crisis for the entire planet. Now, somehow, it’s even worse than that, and he’s once again lobbying the US Senate to sabotage the pact.

There are plenty of Senate hawks with an eye toward doing exactly that, but it remains unlikely that they will be able to muster a veto-proof majority for any deal-killing legislation, and President Obama has stated his intention to veto any bill that harms the talks.

That leaves Netanyahu on the outside looking in, shrill as ever, but probably without the international clout to actually kill the diplomatic deal he so reviles.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.