Iran is Netanyahu’s big failure, says ex-ambassador

A former Israeli ambassador and consul general has said that in recent years Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been moving from one failure to another regarding Iran’s nuclear issue. Alon Pinkas made his comment in an article published by Hebrew-language newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

Pinkas, who served as chief of staff and policy advisor to four Israeli foreign ministers, said that Netanyahu achieved success in the past because he could convince the US about the size of the Iranian threat. “Today, though, he has cold relations with Washington,” he pointed out.

Netanyahu has several failures, explained the former diplomat, at the top of which is the relationship with the US. “There is a big change and estrangement in the basis of the decades-long holy principles” related to the bipartisan support for Israel among Republicans and Democrats.

“The degree of listening to Netanyahu on public issues, mainly in the US, has fallen, and his proposals on such issues are not being considered,” explained Pinkas. He said that Netanyahu’s renewed interest in the Iran issue is in part due to reports about indirect talks between the US and Iran. Getting re-involved in the Iran issue, he added, also diverts attention from Netanyahu’s controversial plan to overhaul the Israeli judiciary.

Pinkas reiterated that the US is not a partner in this “manoeuvre” and that US President Joe Biden still does not want to see Netanyahu in the White House. He said that the Israeli prime minister’s failures started when he rejected the diplomatic process that would have started between the Barack Obama administration and Iran, claiming that he had a better plan which he has never put forward.

READ: Iran’s Khamenei says ‘nothing wrong’ with a nuclear deal with West