Israel and the United States have the same objective regarding Iran - For Israel, however, eliminating Tehran’s nuclear capabilities is more urgent
April 4, 2025
By; Joseph Puder
While bringing the Israeli hostages back home from the hell of the Gaza tunnels is a top moral imperative for the Netanyahu-led Israeli coalition government, the ultimate issue of concern for military strategists in the Kirya is, however, dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat. For Israel, there are several key reasons why now is the opportune time to deal with Iran; Primary among them is President Donald Trump.
And, from Trump’s perspective, inasmuch as the Israel Defense Forces has degraded Iran’s major proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the demise of the Bashar Assad dictatorship in Syria, it is now easier to employ the military option against the Islamic Republic of Iran. What’s more, Israel destroyed the Iranian air defense systems late last year.
The president, however, has his own timetable. He has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, and he sent a formal letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivering a decisive ultimatum: Iran has two months to accept a new nuclear deal or face severe consequences. Simultaneously, Trump has directly blamed Iran for the aggressive actions against international shipping vessels in the Red Sea by the Houthis, holding Iran accountable for the Houthis’ actions.
For Israel, the two-month ultimatum is perhaps too long a grace period, given Iran’s aggressive advances in its quest for a nuclear bomb. According to a Bloomberg report, Iran has been ramping up production of fissile material in recent years and, it could likely produce the amount of enriched uranium needed for a bomb “in less than a week.” Iran has enriched uranium at weapons-grade levels of 60% purity—something only achieved by atomic-armed nations.
Israel has demonstrated that Iran’s nuclear sites are well within reach of Israeli air power. And U.S. air power is, without doubt, a major force. Such force is unquestionably an option, and one that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he favors, especially since Israel has the most at stake.
Trump seems to believe that economic pressure will bring the radical ayatollah regime to its knees. In fact, Iran’s currency, the rial, is in free fall. The impact of U.S. sanctions is being deeply felt in Iran. However, Iran rejected direct nuclear negotiations with the United States in its response to Trump’s letter. Moreover, to parade its “toughness,” the Iranian regime’s Press TV-English sighted American targets in a recently published article, including Camp Thunder Cove on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, alleging that the United States is stationing its stealth B-2 bombers to attack the Houthis. They implied that they will target the U.S. bombers.
The State Department’s response to the Iranians’ rejection of the U.S. offer to negotiate reiterated that “President Trump has been clear: the United States cannot allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.” Former President Joe Biden also declared that the United States wouldn’t let Iran develop a nuclear weapon, yet he did nothing but appease the ayatollahs. Biden looked the other way as Iran resumed the sale of its oil, which provided it with the revenue that enabled it to fund its proxies.
In the meantime, Israel TV Channel 11 reported that Iran has loaded its missiles on underground launchers as a reaction to Trump’s threat.
What must be clear to Israel is that Trump, who declared early on that he wants to be remembered as the “peace president,” is unlikely to opt for a military option. His threat to Iran is meant to force the Islamic Republic to come to the negotiation table. Trump will more than likely use economic pressure and diplomacy rather than military might. Israel, on the other hand, understands that only military action can put an end to Iran’s nuclear buildup.
Trump is willing to give some time to find a lasting diplomatic solution to curb Iran’s nuclear program. Israel, though, doesn’t have that same time. Iran poses an existential threat to Israel, and Israel cannot wait to see if Trump’s “maximum pressure” bears fruit.
The avoidance of war is commendable in most cases, and that is what the Trump administration is seeking. However, radical ideologies, like Iran’s, must be dealt with in a fashion similar to how the radical Islamist ideology of Hamas and ISIS was fought. Economic measures that leave the ayatollah’s regime in place will not solve the existential threat to Israel, nor will they lessen the danger for America and its allies in the region and beyond. Another nuclear deal struck between the United States and Iran, albeit tougher, would just delay the eventual clash between the Tehran and Jerusalem, and eventually, Washington.
The ultimate goal of U.S. policy regarding Iran must be for regime change. That would serve not only the interests of the people in Israel and moderate Gulf states—i.e., United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, but, first and foremost, the oppressed people of Iran. If the ayatollah’s regime continues to reign in Tehran, it will foment tension and violence that could impact the region as well as the United States.
Empty threats, such as the one recently used by Trump toward Hamas, that “there will be hell to pay if Hamas doesn’t release the hostages,” didn’t advance U.S. credibility. The same is true with regard to Iran. Instead, the Trump administration must work overtly to delegitimize the ayatollah regime, whose support among the Iranian people has steadily declined. In the end, it will require military action to collapse the regime and eliminate its nuclear threat.
https://www.jns.org/israel-and-the-united-states-have-the-same-objective-regarding-iran/