Larry Gordon is Editor-in-Chief of the 5 Towns Jewish Times
Netanyahu said it on multiple occasions as did other top Israeli officials. Donald Trump is the best friend Israel ever had in the White House. As this new agreement has been reached, I think it’s important to understand that the idea of completely wiping out Iran is not going to happen.
While it was an honorable objective to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles, eliminate their navy, and prevent them from acquiring nukes, this attempt to enact regime change by bringing back the Pahlavi dynasty probably involved a lot of wishful thinking. At the end of the day, the Mullahs and the military remained in power and are running whatever is left of the country.
This new deal is much more complicated than just good guys getting rid of bad guys. Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Mullahs have repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel. This was the basis for Iran’s nuclear program, which has always posed an existential threat to Israel. For this reason, Israel is behind the U.S. seeing to it that Iran never has the ability to build nuclear weapons.
Former President Barack Obama said earlier this week that he doesn’t see much of a difference between the agreement he signed with Iran in 2015, which Trump cancelled in 2018. It’s silly to suggest that the two agreements are the same. After 15 years, the Obama-John Kerry deal would have allowed for the removal of all limits on enrichment, including limits on the type and number of centrifuges and removed limits on Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and enrichment sites. This means that under the Obama plan, by 2026 the international community would have conceded that Iran could indeed possess nuclear capabilities.
It’s Obama’s fundamental dishonesty that moved him to say that there is no difference between the two deals. The new Trump deal prohibits Iran from possessing nuclear weapons of any size, shape, or under any circumstances.
Obama so desperately wanted an agreement with Iran that he paid them pallets of cash worth $1.7 billion to agree to the deal. The Trump deal offers zero money to Iran until a show of good faith on their part that they are unequivocally abiding by the agreement.
Iran is a mess after months of being carpet bombed by both the U.S. and Israeli Air Forces. Part of this new deal gives them access to a potential $300 billion fund provided by the Gulf countries based on Iran adhering to the stipulations of the agreement. Diverging from any part of the deal means no money for them.
The part that is somewhat unusual here is that most countries involved in this new agreement expect Iran to violate it shortly after the deal is signed.
The concept of Iran adhering to any agreement is considered by many to be largely laughable. The current regime is best understood when they are compared to colossal liars and deceivers. It was well known for years that the Islamic Republic was secretly moving its nuclear program forward. Hiding the truth is part of how the Mullahs remained in power for so long. At the end of 2025, the UN nuclear watchdog revealed that Iran had added 133.8 kg of uranium which, if enriched to 90 percent, would have been enough for three nuclear bombs.
Although Tehran has always insisted that their nuclear program was “peaceful," they viewed their deliberate dishonesty as almost a “religious duty." That is who they proudly are and it’s doubtful they can give up being that way even if they wanted to.
On this matter, it’s important to note that the new deal is between the U.S. and Iran. While the deal is certainly beneficial to Israel, the agreement is not between them and Iran. Perhaps someday we’ll get there, but that day is not today.
It’s unreasonable to demand that Israel refrain from responding to Hezbollah terror attacks or for that matter Hamas or Houthi attacks. Even President Trump said this week that Israel always has the right to defend herself. The president asked Israel not to respond to a Hezbollah terror attack earlier this week, but it has always been Israel’s policy to respond when and if attacked.
It is wrong and unconscionable for Mr. Trump to refer condescendingly to Prime Minister Netanyahu as he has been doing recently. Would Trump use four letter words to refer to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia or Erdogan of Turkey? Or as quickly as when he said that Bibi is a difficult person and has no discretion? He wouldn’t dare say that. Perhaps it’s just that he’s too comfortable with Bibi. Maybe this is something else that should come to an immediate halt.
Trump is a great friend of Israel and he always will be. It just might be that Vice President Vance is pulling the president in another direction. For their part, negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are interested in constructing skyscrapers in Gaza and even Iran. The skepticism comes from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (both potential future candidates for President), who (realistically) do not trust Iran one iota.
At the same time, it’s important to take it one step at a time and know why it’s important for Trump and us that this war concludes - for now - and why this agreement needed to be signed. It’s not just about gas prices or endangering U.S. troops. More than anything, the focus here is on the November elections and the need for the Republicans to retain or even increase their majorities in the House and Senate. The traditional expectation is that the party in the White House loses ground in Congress during the midterm elections. To keep such a situation from occurring, it’s vital to curtail the war and prevent the cost of everything from food to fuel to keep rising.
The current end to the incessant bombing and destruction of Iran is having a positive effect on our financial markets due to rising confidence in a peaceful future plus the immediate impact of lowered gas prices. There’s no better campaign strategy for Republicans that the price of gas lowered from $4.75 per gallon to $2.99, which is another way of telling the people that it’s in their best interest to vote for whoever is in office already, especially if they’re Republican and supported by Mr. Trump.
As these words are being written, there’s still uncertainty on some of what the agreement with Iran contains. A report in the Saudi press on Wednesday confirms that the U.S. committed to coaxing Israel to withdraw all troops from Lebanon. It’s important to understand that Israel is only in Lebanon because of the constant missile and drone strikes that emanate from south Lebanon. If the Hezbollah terror group ceased firing on Israel, the IDF would not have to be there.
(But Hezbollah is firing and Israel has to end the bombardment of its citizens in the north. Soldiers have been putting their lives on the line to achieve this goal. They are not part of Trump's life, but they are part of ours, ed.)
Right now, it looks and sounds like Trump has made some kind of commitment along those lines. That would be unfortunate because he did that without consulting Israel, but this could be why on Tuesday Trump made the inane suggestion that perhaps Syrian forces could handle Hezbollah better than Israel or instead of Israel.
President Trump also stupidly said on that same day that he does not understand why Israel had to destroy an entire building just so they could eliminate one person. Spoken like a true veteran builder who hates to see an entire building go to waste.
The foreign policy experts know that Iran and their proxies will not be able to adhere to any agreements pertaining to a cessation of war. Trump and his cabinet know this too. This peace deal charade is a way to reduce oil prices, open the Strait of Hormuz, and act like peace is imminent.
The goal here is to maintain if not widen the Republican majority in the House in November as well as maintain the current Republican majority in the Senate. At the end of the process in November, the U.S. and Israel will have no choice but to finish the bombing of Iran and openly call for regime change. At the same time, Israel will have the opportunity to finish off Hezbollah and the Houthis. It’s at this point, if we indeed reach it, that we will finally be able to conclude once again that Donald Trump is indeed the best friend Israel ever had in the White House.