- Following comments made by Tamir Heiman, a former head of Military Intelligence, suggesting that a new nuclear deal with Iran could be a good thing for Israel, a senior official has rejected this position.
Heiman’s comments were made in the course of an interview with Israel Hayom, and although his critic described him as a “serious commander,” the official added that, “his argument that there are advantages to returning to the nuclear deal is not well-founded. The damage done by returning to the nuclear deal will certainly outweigh any benefits it brings.”
The official added that Heiman’s assertion that the nuclear deal will buy time for Israel is similarly unfounded.
“The immediate effect of a return to the nuclear deal, if it happens, will be an influx of funds to Iran,” the official explained.
- “Currently, the country is in a desperate financial situation, and an injection of cash would be a gamechanger. Large sums would be transferred to terrorist organizations and used to renew their activities. This is why the nuclear deal will not buy time for Israel – on the contrary, it will only make things that much harder for us.”
Heiman, on the other hand, pointed out that “according to Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Iran already has over 50 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent, and for a bomb, they need just 42 kilograms.
“They already have enough to make their first bomb, meaning that the situation the nuclear deal will create will actually set them back, as it won’t permit them to possess enough enriched uranium for a bomb.”
Heiman concluded that in his opinion, the agreement “will reduce the amount of enriched material that Iran has and buy us plenty of time, because enrichment takes a long time. And during this time, many other things can be done such as upgrading our military capabilities, building international coalitions, and creating the infrastructure for a future agreement for the period.”
Source: Arutz Sheva