Israeli Right-Wing Ministers Reject Trump-Iran Peace Deal
Two right-wing ministers in Israel’s government have launched sharp criticism against a peace agreement between the United States under Donald Trump’s leadership and Iran. The deal, designed to end conflicts in the Middle East, including in Lebanon, is instead seen as threatening Israel’s national security.
Israel’s National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, openly stated that Israel is not bound by the agreement reached between Washington and Tehran. He stressed that the Israeli military must continue to apply pressure on its enemies without compromise.
“The Trump deal does not bind us. We are not a party to this agreement and it does not guarantee our security,” Ben Gvir asserted via his personal Telegram channel on Monday.
Ben Gvir added that Israel must not accept any option other than the complete dismantling of Hezbollah’s forces in Lebanon. He also firmly rejected the discourse of withdrawing troops from areas currently controlled by the Israeli military. “We must not retreat a single inch from territories that our soldiers have captured and cleared of terrorist infrastructure,” he said.
Echoing Ben Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also gave a negative assessment of the US diplomatic move. According to him, a permanent halt to military operations on the various current conflict fronts would only harm Israel’s strategic position. “This deal is bad for Israel,” Smotrich stated. Although acknowledging that joint US-Israeli operations in recent months have weakened Iran, he argued that this momentum should be used to topple the Tehran regime, not to make peace.
Smotrich urged the Israeli government to continue a creative campaign to ensure Iran never gains access to nuclear weapons. “We must continue the campaign to bring down that regime and ensure Iran never obtains nuclear weapons,” he said. Regarding the situation on the northern border, Smotrich pledged to keep pressing the government to give the military full freedom to push Hezbollah away from the border area. According to him, the security of residents in northern Israel cannot be staked on a sheet of international treaty paper.