WarSclerotic

The Iranian nuclear issue is expected to top the agenda during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming meeting U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House.

Netanyahu is angry about recent developments following the nuclear negotiations between world powers and Iran, including the U.S. dropping its demand that Iran halt uranium enrichment and send already-enriched uranium out of the country.

During meetings with Israeli officials at the weekend, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, the head of the U.S. delegation in the talks with Iran, said Iran would be able to continue uranium enrichment, as long as it agrees to do so under supervision.

Sherman said the U.S. and Israel have the same goal — preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon — but that there are “legitimate” differences of opinion over the path to achieve that goal.

Israel, however, is issuing harsh warnings on the American concession to Iran. Israel views this as a fundamental dispute, as the concession on Iranian enrichment would enable Iran to decide for itself if and when to go nuclear.

At Sunday’s cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said: “I view with concern that fact that Iran believes that it will realize its plan to be a nuclear threshold state, with an enrichment capacity that it thinks cannot be touched, with the ability to develop both nuclear weapons and intercontinental missiles, which it is continuing to work on unhindered.

“This combination of enrichment, weapons and launch capabilities, says that Iran is, in effect, receiving everything and giving almost nothing.”

Strategic Affairs, Intelligence and International Relations Minister Yuval Steinitz, who was among the Israeli officials to meet with Sherman, said, “Israel has repeatedly made clear its position that an agreement with Iran must include the dismantlement of its ability to advance toward nuclear weapons.”