In recent years many Israelis believed the greatest threat to the US-Israel relationship came from the Democratic Party. In my role as Chair of American Democrats in Israel my cohorts and I felt and continue to feel this sentiment to this day.

The announcement by President Trump of reaching an agreement or “Memorandum of Understanding” with Iran, caught many in Israel by surprise. So in the last few days I began to assess once again, how we got from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA (the nuclear arms deal brokered by President Obama and much maligned here in Israel as a horrible deal) to Trump’s Iran Deal, which today Israelis are claiming to be a horrible deal. Some say even worse than the JCPOA. So my question is simple: Is Israel still America’s special ally? And a second question: Did Trump buckle under the Iranian threat of global economic disaster?

Here is the answer to the first question. When President Barack Obama signed the JCPOA with Iran in 2015, Israel reacted with fury. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu famously took his case directly to Congress, over the head of President Obama, warning that the agreement paved Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon. Republicans rallied to Israel’s side, Democrats stood behind President Obama, and the debate became one of the most polarizing moments in modern US-Israel relations. Long after Obama left office Israel was able to claim”victory” when President Trump withdrew from the JCPOA.

A decade later and history has a way of producing ironies.

The Trump administration’s recent memorandum of understanding with Iran has generated many of the same concerns in Israel that the JCPOA did. Far greater concerns in fact. Mainly as this agreement comes from a Republican administration led by the very president who withdrew from Obama’s deal in 2018, and labeled here in Israel as its best ally ever (not my words, but the words of Israel’s Prime Minister every time he has a chance).

So the elephant in the room is asking the following question: Has the United States begun redefining its relationship with Israel?

The Surprising Comparison

For years, opponents of the JCPOA argued that the agreement gave Iran too much while demanding too little in return. Yet, when one compares the JCPOA with the  US-Iran memorandum, an uncomfortable reality emerges.

The JCPOA imposed strict limits on Iran’s nuclear program. It capped uranium enrichment, reduced stockpiles, limited centrifuges, subjected facilities to extensive international inspections, and created a formal enforcement mechanism.

The new agreement appears to be something quite different. The MOU’s primary objective is seemingly focused on regional stability. In other words “it’s all about the money.” It seeks to reduce tensions, secure maritime commerce, prevent wider conflict, and create space for future negotiations. While it reportedly includes provisions regarding enriched uranium and inspections, it does not appear to contain the detailed architecture of restrictions that........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)