A group of over 20 former Israeli military and intelligence officials penned a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz supporting a US return to the Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA.
The signatories of the letter, which was sent on Monday, include former top-level Mossad officials and former generals of the Israeli Defense Forces. The group welcomed the Biden administration’s plan to revive the JCPOA, although so far, the US has taken little action, and crippling economic sanctions on Iran are still in place.
“We welcome the American initiative to bring Iran into compliance … with the nuclear deal, provided that it also requires Iran to fully comply with its obligations under UN Security Council resolution 2231,” the letter reads. UN Security Council resolution 2231 was the 2015 resolution that endorsed the JCPOA.
Netanyahu and most current Israeli officials are opposed to a revival of the JCPOA and have been very outspoken about it. Some officials have even threatened to attack Iran if the US rejoins the deal. But there are two Israeli politicians in the Knesset who are in favor of the JCPOA and explained their position to The Times of Israel last week.
After weeks of demanding that Iran scale back its nuclear activity before it receives sanctions relief, the Biden administration has said it would talk with Iran in a meeting with other nuclear deal participants if invited by the EU. The US also rescinded a Trump-era claim that all UN sanctions were in effect on Iran.