Netanyahu's Perpetual War: The Myth of the 'Good Deal'
THE CLAIM: The Hill reports Netanyahu's skepticism about former President Trump's engagements with Iran, yet suggests he believes a 'good deal' is possible. This framing implies a degree of diplomatic flexibility from the former Israeli leader, painting him as a pragmatic, albeit tough, negotiator. THE EVIDENCE: The public record, however, tells a different story. For over two decades, Netanyahu
has consistently warned of Iran being 'months from a nuclear bomb,' a claim that stretches back to at least 2002. In 2012, at the UN General Assembly, he famously presented a cartoon bomb with a red line to illustrate Iran's supposed nuclear breakout capacity. This narrative has remained remarkably consistent, regardless of the Iranian government's actual nuclear program status, which the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has consistently monitored under various agreements. Each time diplomacy has advanced, Netanyahu's rhetoric intensifies, positioning himself as the sole arbiter of a 'good deal'—a deal that, by definition, never seems to materialize. THE CONTRADICTIONS: Netanyahu's 'skepticism' isn't about the *quality* of any specific deal, but the very *existence* of a
deal that could normalize Iran's international standing. When the P5+1 (including the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China) negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015—an agreement widely regarded by intelligence agencies as effectively blocking Iran's pathways to a nuclear weapon—Netanyahu vehemently opposed it, calling it a 'historic mistake' and lobbying the US