Major Split Between US and Israel on Iran

Netanyahu, Kerry Trade Barbs After Failed Talks

Diplomacy or war? Officials continue to insist there is virtual consensus between the United States and Israel on Iran, but it’s increasingly clear there is a major divide, and an increasingly public one.

Netanyahu’s repeated condemnations on diplomacy in general have led Secretary of State John Kerry to insist that Netanyahu wasn’t involved in the talks and doesn’t have any real details about the deal that was about to be made, adding that the US is “not blind and I don’t think we’re stupid.”

Netanyahu took issue with the comments in his latest speech, insisting that he has secret access to all the details of all the closed door diplomacy that took place in Geneva, and knew the US was plotting to let Iran keep its civilian nuclear program with all its current capabilities.

While the whole issue was temporarily rendered moot by the French government killing the talks for an unrelated Saudi arms sale, Netanyahu has set the stage for a major lobbying campaign against diplomacy, and is positioning the Obama Administration as their opponents for being at least conceivably open to reaching a deal with Iran.

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.