Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Monday morning that the Memorandum of Understanding reached overnight by Washington and Tehran does not bind the Jewish state.
“Israel is not subject to the United States, and we are an independent and sovereign nation,” he tweeted in Hebrew.
The Israeli government’s duty is to its citizens, its soldiers and the Jewish people, he said.
“Every time we succumbed to international pressure at the expense of Israel’s security, we paid in blood with interest. It was true in the Oslo Accords, it was true in the Lebanon agreement in 2006, and it was true in every period of containment in Gaza that exploded in our faces,” Ben-Gvir continued.
“My position is clear: We are not partners to this agreement that does not ensure our security, and it does not bind us in any way. We must not compromise on anything less than the dismantling of Hezbollah, we must not withdraw from any territory that our fighters have captured and cleared of terror infrastructure, we must not return to a situation where thousands of terrorists sit on the fences of northern communities, and certainly we must not remain silent for a moment in the face of fire directed at the State of Israel,” he stressed.
He went on to say that people in Israel “love” the United States and “are grateful” to President Donald Trump, but that “the State of Israel is not a banana republic.”
“The people of Israel are a people of 3,000 years, the eternal people that does not fear a long road; we have faith in the Creator, we are a strong and proud people that returned to its homeland strong and proud, and do not intend to lower its gaze before enemies anymore. The days are over when the Jew took blows and kept silent. Never again!” Ben-Gvir said.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also criticized the agreement, tweeting that it is “bad for Israel and for the entire free world. Period.”
He said that the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran had many achievements, but that now the Jewish state has to topple the Iranian regime “in creative ways” on its own, and ensure that “Iran will never have nuclear weapons.”
Smotrich continued, “None of the candidates who see themselves as fit for the premiership would withstand even 10% of the pressure currently being applied to the Israeli government, and especially to the one at its head.”
The minister singled out Lebanon as the Jewish state’s looming test, saying that the battle against Hezbollah is Israel’s concern.
“I will continue to act so that we continue to stand firm on ours and allow the IDF full freedom of action to continue pushing Hezbollah away [from the northern border],” he added.
The Israeli government voted on Monday to extend a “special emergency” for the entire country until the end of June amid the tenuous ceasefire.
The “Special Situation on the Home Front” authorizes the Israel Defense Forces’ Home Front Command to restrict public gatherings and civilian movement. The resolution does not affect Israeli civilians directly, but enables the IDF to quickly decide on new restrictions in the light of developing threats posed by Tehran and its terrorist proxies in the region.
Trump, in his announcement of the deal being reached, published just before 5:30 p.m. in Washington, wrote: “I hereby fully authorize the toll-free opening of the Strait of Hormuz and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the U.S. Naval blockade. Ships of the world, start your engines. Let the oil flow.”
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi confirmed in a televised interview that the memorandum between Tehran and Washington had been finalized and would be signed on Friday in Switzerland, saying Iran had “incorporated all our important positions into the draft,” according to the Tasnim News Agency, a semi-official outlet associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
