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Tel Aviv, Israel: Reactions in Israel to the memorandum of understanding signed between President Donald Trump and Iran on Sunday have been a mix of wait-and-see details and outright criticism.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council confirmed on Sunday that Tehran and Washington have finalized a memorandum of understanding to end the war after months of talks. In a statement, the council said all military operations on several fronts, including in Lebanon, would cease “immediately and permanently.”
Negotiations on a comprehensive final agreement will reportedly begin only after both sides implement their obligations under the framework and are expected to continue for 60 days.
On Monday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation, saying he had spent decades fighting Iran’s efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. “I could define it as my life’s mission,” he said. “I have stood by this until now and I will stand by it in the future. With or without the deal, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.”
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters during a press conference on the US-Iran agreement on June 15, 2026. (Israel Government Press Office)
He further said, “Not today and not tomorrow. As long as I am the Prime Minister of Israel, this will not happen.”
Responding to reporters’ questions, Netanyahu admitted that he was not familiar with the exact details of the memorandum of understanding signed between the Trump administration and the Iranian regime, but praised the joint US-Israel operation against the regime.
Netanyahu said the operations had saved Israel from the threat of nuclear annihilation. “If we had not taken action…and shown the strength we have in our historic partnership with President Trump and the U.S. military, Iran would already have nuclear bombs,” Netanyahu said.
Earlier on Monday, Defense Minister Israel Katz avoided directly criticizing the agreement, but said the IDF would not withdraw from southern Lebanon, warning that if Iran attacks Israel in response to the fight against Hezbollah, “we will attack it with full force.”
“The IDF will remain in security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza without any time limit to protect the border and Israeli communities against jihadist elements,” he said.
IDF soldiers are fighting Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. (IDF Spokesperson Unit.)
Katz described securing areas as “one of the IDF’s greatest achievements” in the multi-front war since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 massacre, and said Israel opposes the IDF’s withdrawal from Lebanon despite all pressure.
Katz said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had conveyed these positions to US President Donald Trump and other senior US officials, including US War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
He concluded, “We will not compromise on Israel’s security interests and the safety of our citizens.”
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President Donald Trump monitors US military operations in Iran following the Israeli attack in Tehran on February 28, 2026. (@whitehouse/x)
Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and former head of the research division in the Israel Defense Forces’ Military Intelligence Directorate, told Fox News Digital that details of the agreement are sketchy.
“There was a debate within the Iranian leadership about whether to accept the deal or not,” he said. “It appears that the information we’re hearing is coming from people who opposed it. Maybe they’re right, maybe they’re wrong, but it creates great concern in Israel. If this is the deal, it’s a disaster. If one listens to President Trump, this deal is probably something different.”
Kuperwasser defined a “good deal” in which Iran gives up all components of its nuclear program, provides access to enriched uranium and establishes a robust monitoring system capable of reaching anywhere at any time, including military facilities used for nuclear purposes. He said such an agreement should also ban the production of missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
A ball of fire rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike targeting an area in the southern suburbs of Beirut on the night of March 10 to 11, 2026. (Fedel Itani/AFP via Getty Images)
“The fate of Lebanon is a matter of discussion between Washington, Jerusalem and Beirut,” Kuperwasser said. “Iran is not a party in those negotiations and according to the Lebanese government it should not be so. If Lebanon is to be part of the agreement with Iran, it means that Tehran has the right to have a say in Lebanese affairs.”
Kuperwasser said Israel has lived in the shadow of Iran’s nuclear program since 1998, while noting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is uniquely positioned to assess the issue given his decades of involvement. He said it was unclear whether Netanyahu was satisfied with the outcome or what his final assessment would be.
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Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, now leader of the opposition, cited Fox News Digital for his comments on X.
He wrote, “The emerging agreement achieves none of Israel’s war goals. The regime survives, the missile program exists, and Iran can rebuild its nuclear program. This is a complete failure of Netanyahu’s, and in the process, he is turning us into a client state that takes orders about its own national security.”
A motorist passes a banner bearing images of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son Mojtaba Khamenei on a street in Tehran on April 15, 2026. (AFP/Getty Images)
On March 19, Prime Minister Netanyahu outlined three war objectives for the US-Israeli joint operation against Iran: “One, to remove the nuclear threat. Second, to remove the ballistic missile threat and to remove both of these threats before they are buried deep underground and immune to air attack. And third, it means creating conditions for the Iranian people to realize their freedom, to control their own destiny,” the prime minister said at the time.
Dr. Meir Javadenfar, a lecturer on Iran at Reichmann University, told Fox News Digital that Israel’s most immediate concern regarding the deal is the section related to Lebanon.
“There is real concern that this could tie Israel’s hands,” he said. “An additional concern is that Hezbollah could use this stream to regroup and strengthen its armed forces and positions along the border with Israel.”
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Javadenfar said it was too early to assess whether the deal would leave Israel in a substantially stronger position than under the 2015 Obama-era nuclear deal, citing Iran’s 60% enriched uranium reserves and the fate of its nuclear infrastructure.
“Will Iran be allowed to continue enriching uranium on its soil? If so, at what percentage? And how will the international community monitor Iran’s nuclear program? What kind of inspection program will they have? How intrusive will they be?” He added.
The Israel Defense Forces said its troops discovered and destroyed a Hezbollah underground command center containing infrastructure about 8 meters below ground in southern Lebanon. (IDF Spokesperson Unit)
Israel’s controversial National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir insisted on Monday that the MOU does not bind the Jewish state. “Israel is not subservient to the United States, and we are an independent and sovereign nation,” he tweeted, adding that Jerusalem has a duty to its citizens, its soldiers, and the Jewish people.
“My position is clear: We are not participants in this agreement that does not ensure our security, and it does not bind us in any way,” he said, adding that while Israelis “love” the United States and are “grateful” to Trump, “the State of Israel is no ordinary republic.”
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On Friday, Netanyahu’s office said that “even though Israel is not a party to the memorandum of understanding, the Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for President Trump’s commitment that the final agreement at the conclusion of negotiations will include removing enriched material, dismantling enrichment infrastructure, limits on missile production, and ending Iran’s support for its terrorist proxies in the region.”
President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago on December 29, 2025 to discuss Iran tensions and Gaza peace plan. (Israel Government Press Office)
Quoting the prime minister, the statement said “As long as I am Prime Minister of Israel – Iran will not have nuclear weapons. President Trump and I are in full agreement on this issue. For more than 30 years, I have been at the forefront of the international struggle against Iran’s nuclear program. If this struggle had not happened, Iran would have had the nuclear bombs to destroy Israel long ago. Iran is working to destroy the Jewish state, and I will dedicate my life to preventing them from doing so. As long as I am the Prime Minister of Israel, this will not happen.”
