Leading Opposition Knesset Member on Iran Nuclear Agreement: ‘On This Matter Alone, I Stand Behind Netanyahu’

By David Daoud

Leading opposition Knesset Member Eitan Cabel of the Zionist Union party gave an unexpected endorsement of Prime Minister Netanyahu, saying that he stood behind the Prime Minister over the “extremely worrisome” nuclear framework agreement with Iran.

Cabel wrote on his Facebook page that he “refuse[s] to join the flock of followers applauding the nuclear deal with Iran,” saying that the deal worried him so much, that it gave him insomnia.

The MK also criticized the United States in his post, for its continuous and multiple concessions to Iran on the road to obtaining a deal, saying, “When an extremist clerical regime gets – with a proven record of terror and cheating – gets permission to come within reach of a nuclear bomb, I am very concerned.”

He then criticized the track record of the United States and the West in dealing with Iran, saying that it also espoused very little confidence in the deal. “When those tasked with monitoring that the agreement will not be violated themselves have a proven track record of disregarding the red lines that they themselves have set – I am even more concerned.”

He also displayed little confidence in President Obama’s assurances, saying, “President Obama promised yesterday, ‘if the Iranians cheat,the world will know.’ But isn’t this exactly what the Americans promised after the agreement with North Korea?”

Cabel, who is one of Netanyahu’s most prominent and strident critics, added that, “On this matter alone, I stand behind Benjamin Netanyahu” according to Israel’s Channel 10 news.

Cabel added that the consensus in Israel on the issue of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons was above party or political differences, saying that, “this time, it is definitely not a matter of Right or Left,” and adding that even “With all the criticism there is about how [Netanyahu] conducted the struggle against the agreement, the struggle itself is just. Against a nuclear Iran, there is no opposition or coalition. We are all Israelis.”

On Wednesday, another prominent dovish politician spoke out against the Obama administration’s framework agreement with Iran, announced last week.

In an interview on CNBC, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak said, “All of us prefer a solution that might be reached through negotiations, but in order to negotiate, the other side should understand and believe… that if they will not come to terms with the real demands, to put all of the enriched material out of Iran, to close Fordo, to stop all working on weaponization, on making the preparations for weapons. If all this is not agreed right now, they face the alternatives.”

The Algemeiner

{Matzav.com}