After President Donald Trump announced overnight Sunday that a peace agreement had been reached between the United States and Iran, under which an immediate, permanent ceasefire would take effect on all fronts, including Lebanon, Israel's political system awoke Monday to the emerging deal.
Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Gadi Eisenkot, chair of the "Yashar!" party, attacked the Israeli government over the emerging agreement. "Almost three years after the catastrophe of October 7, after a heavy price paid and military achievements worthy of note, Israel wakes up this morning to a deal taking shape far from here and far from Israeli interests. The gap between the hollow promises of 'total victory' and this morning could not be wider.
"Adding to the sense of a missed opportunity is the infuriating fact that the prime minister refuses to look the public in the eye and answer pointed questions honestly and truthfully," Eisenkot said. "Once again, Israeli citizens are learning about the agreement through reports from foreign leaders. Residents of the north, who were abandoned for two and a half years, discover this morning that their homes and their security remain exposed to threat – and that their anguished cries went unheard again in Jerusalem. We will not leave them alone."
Ben Gvir: "Trump's deal does not bind us"
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was the first coalition member to respond to the deal. "Trump's deal does not bind us. Israel is not subordinate to the United States – we are an independent and sovereign state."
He added, "Our duty to the citizens of Israel, to IDF soldiers, and to the Jewish people is to provide security for Jews in the Land of Israel. Every time we capitulated to international pressure at the expense of Israel's security, we paid in blood with interest. That was true with the Oslo Accords, with the 2006 Lebanon agreement, and during the periods of containment policy toward Gaza."
Ben Gvir nonetheless stressed that his regard for the United States remained positive. "We love the US and we are grateful to President Trump. And at the same time – the State of Israel is not a banana republic. I say these things to the prime minister constantly, and I repeat them at every historic crossroads: at historic moments, you must make historic decisions."
He laid down clear red lines regarding the deal. "My position is clear: we are not partners to this agreement, which does not look after 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 territory that has been cleared of terrorist infrastructure, and we must not return to a reality in which terrorists threaten northern communities."
He also warned that any fire toward Israel would be met with a sharp response. "Any launch of a drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle, or a missile from Lebanon will lead to a strike on Dahiyeh [Hezbollah's stronghold in south Beirut]. That was the balance of deterrence just months ago, and we must not surrender it."
He closed with an ideological message. "The Jewish people is a people 3,000 years old – the eternal people, unafraid of a long road. We are a strong and proud nation, and we no longer intend to bow our heads before enemies. The days when Jews absorbed blows and endured are over. Never again."
Yair Golan, chair of The Democrats party, wrote on his X account that this was "a difficult morning for Israel."
"This morning, Israeli citizens wake up to an agreement between the United States and Iran made over Israel's head," he wrote. "With the stroke of a single signature, enormous military achievements – attained through the bravery of our pilots and the blood of our fighters – were wiped out, while Netanyahu stood on the sidelines: weak, ailing, isolated, and without influence.
"Trump is signing a deal that funnels billions to the ayatollahs' regime, leaves nuclear infrastructure in place, preserves the ballistic threat as it is, and throws a lifeline to the murderous regime in Tehran," he added. "This is the sum of long years of failure. Netanyahu is the man who for years sold the public a false image as 'Mr. Security,' and in practice became the father of the greatest strategic failure in Israel's history."
Golan laid out what he described as the prime minister's failures, writing, "The man who built the conception that 'Hamas is an asset,' who enabled the flow of Qatari money, who abandoned the diplomatic arena, who dismantled Israel's alliances and left it alone at the moment of truth. Netanyahu is good for Hamas. Netanyahu is good for Iran. Netanyahu is good for Hezbollah. Netanyahu is not good for Israel.
"The one who promised 'total victory' ends his tenure with Israel's enemies stronger, Israel weaker, and the deterrence built in the blood of our fighters eroding before our eyes," Golan concluded. "His replacement is not merely a political necessity – it is an existential security imperative."
MK Benny Gantz also weighed in on the deal, saying, "Under no circumstances – Israel must not agree to any restriction on Israel's freedom of action in Lebanon or to a withdrawal that would endanger northern residents. The emerging deal with Iran looks like a strategic failure that will require Israel to wage a diplomatic, military, and legal struggle in the years ahead – a struggle that can only be led by a broad Zionist government."
