PM said to tell Trump Israel must retain freedom of action

Trump said to assure Netanyahu he will thwart Iran nuke program as Israel fears ‘very bad’ deal

Israel deeply concerned over plan that gives Iran time, money, falls short of key security needs, with regime’s nuclear activities only up for discussion later, no commitment to export uranium stockpile, terror proxies intact

US President Donald Trump sought to reassure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call that a final agreement with Iran will fully dismantle Tehran’s nuclear program, a senior Israeli official said in a statement on Sunday, as details emerged of a deal being cobbled together with Iran that appeared to leave central Israeli and American demands unmet and prompted profound concerns in Jerusalem.

According to multiple reports, confirmed by Israeli officials, the initial deal will focus on extending an existing ceasefire for another 60-days and opening the choked Strait of Hormuz to vital shipping, with the key issue of Iran’s nuclear activities relegated to discussions during that period, and no requirement for Iran to export its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. In addition, the plan is said to include a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, but does not include disarming the Iran-backed group.

Trump “clarified that he will stand firm in the negotiations on his longstanding demand for the dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear program and the removal of all enriched uranium from Iranian territory, and that he will not sign a final agreement without these conditions being met,” the unnamed senior official said.

The call took place on Saturday night.

Washington was keeping Jerusalem updated on the negotiations “over a memorandum of understanding to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and enter negotiations toward a final agreement on the points that remain in dispute,” the statement read, adding that Netanyahu thanked Trump for his “exceptional commitment to Israel’s security.”

Trump had declared on Saturday afternoon that the US and Iran were finalizing a deal to end the war, saying that the Memorandum of Understanding “has been largely negotiated” and would be announced shortly. The New York Times reported that the US has almost completely excluded Israel from the negotiations.

For his part, Netanyahu told Trump that Israel will retain its freedom of action against “all threats in all arenas,” the official said. “The prime minister emphasized that Israel will preserve its freedom of action against threats in all arenas, including Lebanon, and President Trump reiterated his support for this principle,” the official said.

The phone call came after last week, the two leaders were said to have held a tense conversation about how best to proceed with Iran. Netanyahu was said to have favored renewing strikes while Trump wanted to give more time for diplomacy.

Netanyahu will hold a limited security cabinet meeting Sunday evening to discuss the emerging US-Iran deal, an aide to one of the attending ministers confirmed to The Times of Israel.

There has been no public statement from Netanyahu or other senior ministers amid the growing reports of a nearing deal.

Despite having yet to issue any public response to the deal, Netanyahu appeared to be projecting the image of a united front with Washington, sharing an AI-generated image of him and Trump on X on Sunday, declaring that “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”

However, the Maariv outlet cited an unnamed member of the security cabinet as saying in a private conversation that if the reported terms of the deal are accurate, then it was “very bad.”

According to the outlet, Israeli officials are most worried that the subject of Iran’s nuclear program has been pushed down below reaching a ceasefire and opening the Strait of Hormuz. Closure of the strait, which Iran blockaded as a war tactic and which usually carries a fifth of the world’s oil supply, rattled global economies, putting pressure on the US to resolve the issue.

The source told Maariv that the concern is that the deal gives Iran “time, money and regional quiet, without a real dismantling of its nuclear and terror capabilities.”

According to Axios, the memorandum of understanding that is expected to be signed by the US and Iran and ushers in a 60-day ceasefire extension, contains a clause that would end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The report said Israel will be permitted to strike Hezbollah if the terror group instigates or carries out attacks.

Talks will only be held on potential curbs on Iran’s nuclear program once the 60-day period begins.

A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Sunday that Tehran has not agreed to hand over its highly enriched uranium stockpile under the preliminary agreement, after both Axios and The New York Times cited officials as saying that was part of the deal. The agreement also envisions the US lifting some sanctions on Iran, enabling it to trade in oil, thereby removing what had been a key pressure tactic by Washington to push Iran into a nuclear deal, and unfreezing a reported $25 billion in Iranian assets overseas.

Iran, which is avowed to destroy Israel, has enriched uranium to levels that experts say are a short technical step from weapons-grade and has no civilian purpose.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he expected further news on the emerging US-Iran deal later Sunday, and stressed that the main goal of an agreement is to prevent Iran from ever possessing a nuclear weapon.

“I believe there may be more news coming out a bit later today on [a deal with Iran], and I’ll leave it to [Trump] to make further announcements on it,” Rubio told reporters while on a diplomatic visit to India.

“Significant progress but not final progress” has been made on the deal, he adds, saying, “The ultimate goal is that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon…they will never possess a nuclear weapon – certainly not as long as Donald Trump is president.”

However, there has been criticism of the deal in the US.

Republican US Senator Ted Cruz said he is “deeply concerned” about the deal.

Applauding Trump for attacking Iran in the first place, Cruz posted to X: “If the result of all that is to be an Iranian regime — still run by Islamists who chant ‘death to America’ — now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium & develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a vocal supporter of the war who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, expressed fear over terms that allow the Iranian regime to survive, saying a deal that leaves Iran in a strong position in the region would lead to a “nightmare for Israel.”

Israel and the US launched their campaign against Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize the regime and destroy its nuclear and ballistic missile capacities. Iran responded with missile and drone strikes across the region, including at Israel. Its proxies in Iraq and Lebanon also carried out attacks, with Israel launching massive airstrikes in Lebanon in response to the Hezbollah terror group’s rocket barrages.

The US and Iran reached a temporary ceasefire on April 8, and it has held up since. Though Iran tied the agreement to a halt in the fighting in Lebanon, it only lowered the intensity of clashes, which have continued.