Israel’s visiting defense minister says Israel will stay engaged on the terms as the U.S. tries to return to a nuclear deal with Iran. Benny Gantz’s comments Thursday in Washington sidestepped what’s long been an area of open disagreement between the United States and the now-jeopardized government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Gantz told reporters ahead of a meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that Iran’s nuclear program and other actions were an “existential threat” to Israel. But on a visit that came as an opposition coalition back home tries to end Netanyahu’s 12 years in power, Gantz — unlike Netanyahu — stopped short of openly opposing the Biden administration’s efforts to get the United States back into the Iran deal.
