The US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU) has triggered a political earthquake in Israel, with analysts, opposition leaders, and even members of the governing coalition unleashing a torrent of criticism against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The consensus across the Israeli political spectrum is that the agreement represents a strategic defeat for Israel and a personal humiliation for its longest serving prime minister, who was left out of negotiations and now finds his core security objectives unaddressed.
The Architect of Failure
Israeli commentators have been scathing in their assessments, using language that reflects not just policy disagreement but a sense of personal betrayal. Haaretz columnist Yossi Verter described Netanyahu as standing "at the height of what any objective expert would define as a colossal strategic failure for the State of Israel". In an article headlined "Without shame, the architect of failure claimed he saved Israel from collective death. It was another lie among many," Verter dismantled Netanyahu's claim to have prevented "nuclear annihilation". Verter noted that Netanyahu "has been saying that for 30 years" yet acknowledged that he has no idea what is contained in the memorandum of understanding the US and Iran digitally signed behind his back. "The Iranians know. The Pakistanis know. Presumably the Qataris know. Netanyahu, it seems, does not," Verter wrote.
Maariv columnist Ben Caspit was equally brutal, writing that "Netanyahu's show is over: Trump threw him under the bus". Caspit noted that Netanyahu did not mention Trump by name during his press conference and admitted he knew nothing about the agreement signed electronically without his knowledge. Caspit argued that Netanyahu's repeated warnings about "annihilation" were intended to obscure responsibility for Israel's failures regarding Iran. "Once again, Israel was left outside the picture," Caspit wrote, comparing the situation to the 2015 nuclear agreement from which Netanyahu was also excluded. In a separate article, Caspit suggested that if Netanyahu wanted to do Israel a favour, he would announce his retirement.
Walla commentator Barak Seri described the outcome as Netanyahu's "greatest humiliation", noting that senior Israeli officials viewed the deal as "bad and dangerous for Israel" and "a real disaster" that was reached without considering Israeli interests. Seri mocked one of the outcomes touted by supporters of the agreement, writing: "The Strait of Hormuz has been opened. What a great achievement, it was open before the war".
From Opposition to Coalition, All Condemn the Deal
The political backlash has crossed party lines, with opposition leaders and even far-right members of Netanyahu's own coalition denouncing the agreement. Yair Golan, head of Israel's Democrats Party, called the deal "the culmination of long years of failure" and accused Netanyahu of selling Israeli settlers "a false image of security". "The one who promised 'total victory' ends his tenure with Israel's enemies stronger, Israel weaker, and the deterrence built with the blood of our fighters eroding before our very eyes," Golan said. "Replacing him is not just a political necessity, it is an existential security imperative".
Benny Gantz, head of the Blue and White party and a former minister of military affairs, called the US-Iran deal a "strategic failure" that will have long-term consequences. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said Netanyahu "lost the war" and collapsed in the "moment of truth," adding: "There has never, ever, been a more absolute failure than Netanyahu's diplomatic failure on the Iranian front". Even Netanyahu's own coalition partners have turned against him. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declared that "Israel is not subject to the United States" and that the agreement "does not bind us in any way". Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich denounced the MoU as "bad for Israel," insisting that "we will have to continue the campaign to topple the regime ourselves".
The Unravelling of Netanyahu's War Aims
Central to the criticism is the recognition that none of Israel's stated war objectives have been achieved. The New York Times reported that the framework agreement "omits some of the most important things Israel wanted," including any curb on Iran's ballistic missile arsenal or its funding of regional proxies like Hezbollah and the Houthis. The deal's terms on Iran's nuclear programme remain undisclosed or still to be negotiated during the 60-day ceasefire period. Questions remain over what will become of Iran's stock of near bomb grade uranium and whether the country will be able to keep enriching nuclear fuel. As the BBC noted, the agreement presents a "political nightmare" for Netanyahu, smashing the three cornerstones of his political career and leaving him trapped in a new security dilemma.
Analysts have pointed out that the agreement fails to address four demands Netanyahu had set out only days earlier: removing Iran's enriched uranium, dismantling enrichment infrastructure, limiting missile production, and ending support for proxies. According to Ynet, those goals are currently "not on the horizon". The Guardian highlighted the reversal in Netanyahu's standing in Washington, describing the situation as a "nightmare turnaround". As one analyst put it, "the danger posed by the Iranian regime now is far greater than it was a year ago". The political defeat, as Ben Caspit argued, "is greater than the military victories".
Humiliation and Exclusion
Perhaps the most damaging aspect of the deal for Netanyahu is the manner in which it was concluded. The New York Times reported that Israel "was not directly involved in the negotiations". The agreement was negotiated and signed electronically without Netanyahu's knowledge, and the prime minister only learned of its details after the fact. Netanyahu's opponents have seized on this exclusion as evidence of his waning influence in Washington. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak said that "Israel is paying the price of Netanyahu's hubris and blindness, and the price of the manipulations that he tried to pull on Trump".
Even President Trump has publicly rebuked Netanyahu multiple times in recent weeks. While Trump has praised Iran's new supreme leader as pragmatic, he has called Netanyahu "crazy," ungrateful and lacking in judgment. Trump also made clear who is in charge, telling the Financial Times that Netanyahu "won't have any choice" but to accept the agreement and that "I call the shots". The message is unmistakable: Israel has been reduced from a strategic partner to a bystander. As The Spectator observed, "nobody in Israel is celebrating this agreement. From left to right ... Benjamin Netanyahu, unable to defend the deal but unwilling to publicly criticise it, addressed the nation to implausibly claim that he and Trump had stopped some supposedly imminent Iranian nuclear attack".