With Iran deal sealed, don’t expect Israel to send out the air force

In Haaretz, Amos Harel writes: The Israeli government has lost this battle, as it believed it would once Hassan Rohani was elected Iranian president in June. It didn’t convince the superpowers to stand firm and make the Iranians crawl toward a more demanding agreement.

Despite the criticism expected to follow, it seems Israel will have to swallow hard and accept the deal, as problematic as it is. Later on it will focus on the sanctions front. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may resume putting pressure on his friends in the U.S. Congress to try to block the administration and tighten the sanctions that are still in Congress’ purview.

Meanwhile, Israeli intelligence will try to reveal Iranian deception that would let Netanyahu keep telling the world “I told you so.” Israel has already warned that Iran could go the way of North Korea and reach the bomb despite the global diplomatic effort. But an Israeli military option isn’t in play, at least not at this stage. As long as there is such sweeping international support for the interim agreement, bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities would be political suicide.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports: Israeli stock prices rose to another record high on Sunday, ignoring local politicians’ comments that a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear programme was a mistake.

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