Netanyahu: If the JCPOA Does Not Change Fundamentally, 'It Is Better That It Be Abolished'

The Prime Minister of Israel, in a meeting with the French Foreign Minister, stated that the two countries must cooperate on what he termed 'pushing Iran back from its aggressive course in the region' and 'ensuring that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons.' According to Israeli media, Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, April 6, during a meeting with Jean-Yves Le Drian, who visited Jerusalem, said that confronting Iran 'is the most important issue facing the international community in the coming months and years.' He referred to the Islamic Republic of Iran as 'the leading country in supporting terrorism in the region and the world' and claimed that Iran's behavior in the region has become more aggressive than before. Israel's concerns about Iran's military presence in Syria and its support for Hezbollah in Lebanon were also discussed in the talks between the Israeli Prime Minister and the French Foreign Minister. Netanyahu also had a separate meeting with Heiko Maas, the new German Foreign Minister, regarding the fate of the JCPOA, the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers. The Israeli Prime Minister told the two European foreign ministers that Europe should consider its economic interests in relation to the U.S. rather than Iran, which has 'a small and crisis-ridden economy.' Channel 10 of Israeli television reported that Netanyahu added: if Europe does not act decisively against Iran and does not lead to a fundamental change in the JCPOA, Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Tehran is serious. According to him, if the JCPOA does not change fundamentally, 'it is better that it be abolished.' The foreign ministers of Germany and France visited Israel while working with Britain to keep the U.S. in the JCPOA and have also conducted negotiations to meet Donald Trump's demands regarding the JCPOA. Trump's deadline for addressing what he called the 'catastrophic flaws' of the JCPOA ends on May 11; Netanyahu, who recently met with Trump at the White House, has suggested that it is 'likely' that Washington will withdraw from the JCPOA. On the other hand, four former chiefs of staff of the Israeli army, two of whom have also been defense ministers, stated on Sunday at a conference marking Israel's 70th anniversary that they oppose the abolition of the JCPOA. Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister and one of the four generals present at the Sunday meeting, also stated that John Bolton, the future U.S. National Security Advisor, had 'sought to convince' Israel to attack Iran's nuclear facilities a decade ago when he was defense minister. However, according to Mofaz, an attack on Iran is not right for either the U.S. or any other country 'unless there is a completely tangible threat.' The French Foreign Minister visited Israel while his country last week urged the European Union to impose more sanctions against Iran concerning its missile program. Jean-Yves Le Drian, just days after his trip to Tehran and discussions with the Iranian President, Foreign Minister, and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, called on the European Union to adopt tougher positions against Iran's missile program. During his meetings with Iranian leaders, he insisted on the necessity for Tehran to renegotiate with world powers over the JCPOA and to negotiate over Iran's missile program, but Iran announced that it rejected these demands. According to Israeli media, the French Foreign Minister expressed his disappointment with the hardline stance of Tehran's leaders during his meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Israel wants not only a complete change in the provisions of the JCPOA but also for the range of Iran's missiles to be limited to 300 kilometers. The visit of the French Foreign Minister to Israel coincided with the murder of an elderly Jewish woman in her home in Paris, which cast a shadow over his negotiations with the Prime Minister and other Israeli officials. According to assessments by Jewish organizations in France, the murdered woman, a Holocaust survivor, was likely killed as a result of an anti-Semitic act.