Multiple Israeli sources told CNN that Israel is concerned that US President Donald Trump will reach a deal with Iran before addressing some of the key issues that led the two countries to go to war in the first place.
A deal that leaves Iran’s nuclear program partially intact while avoiding issues such as ballistic missiles and support for regional proxies would lead to Israel seeing the war as incomplete, officials said.
“The biggest fear is that President Trump will get tired of the talks and end any deal by making last-minute concessions,” said an Israeli official. U.S. officials reassured Israel that Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile would be addressed, but the official said the apparent exclusion of ballistic missiles and Iran’s proxy network from the talks was “a big problem.”
During the war, Iran fired more than 1,000 ballistic missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states, as well as barraging drone fire.
A partial deal that eases economic pressure on Iran but fails to address some of Iran’s key capabilities could stabilize the regime and provide an influx of funds, officials said. These concerns highlight the rift between President Trump, who appears reluctant to restart the war, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who fears the war will end without achieving all of its original objectives.
A White House spokesperson said Iran was “well aware that the current reality is not sustainable” and insisted that President Trump “holds all the cards” in the negotiations.
“Ballistic missiles have been destroyed, production facilities have been dismantled, our navy has been sunk, and our proxy forces have been weakened,” Olivia Wales said in a statement to CNN. “They are currently being economically strangled by Operation Economic Fury, losing $500 million a day thanks to the U.S. military’s successful blockade of Iranian ports.”
A deal between the U.S. and Iran to end the war is far from certain, and Israel is bracing for a possible resumption of fighting, with wide differences remaining between the two countries over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the future of Iran’s nuclear program. But the Trump administration is still pushing forward on a diplomatic path and appears unwilling to reopen the conflict that has caused U.S. gas prices to soar.
Early in the war, President Trump suggested the United States wanted to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile program, cut support to regional agencies and shut down its nuclear facilities so Iran could never develop a bomb. But 10 weeks on, negotiations have focused on enriching uranium, particularly to weapons-grade levels, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
The narrowing of targets is also clear from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s own public statements. In a February speech in Jerusalem ahead of the Iran war, he laid out five conditions for an acceptable deal: removing all enriched uranium, scrapping enrichment capabilities, addressing ballistic missiles, dismantling Iran’s regional proxy network and strong nuclear inspections.
By last week, in a video address before a meeting of Israel’s Security Cabinet, he had narrowed the list down to one. “The most important objective is to remove the enrichment from Iran, all the enrichment, and dismantle Iran’s enrichment capabilities,” he said, without mentioning ballistic missiles or support for proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
A source familiar with the talks said Israel understood it would “probably be taken off the table” as missiles and proxy weapons were not likely to be included in early diplomatic drafts, which is why Netanyahu is prioritizing uranium as the most pressing threat.
One Israeli source said the prime minister is relying on direct communication with Trump because he does not fully trust Steve Witkoff, the Trump envoy who has been leading negotiations with Iran, and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Prime Minister Netanyahu has pieced together back-channel diplomacy with Iran through intelligence collected from Pakistan, Qatar, and Iran.
“There is great concern that President Trump will reach a bad deal. Israel is trying to influence it as much as possible,” another Israeli official told CNN. But Prime Minister Netanyahu is wary of being seen as pushing President Trump back into war, and is cautious about how much pressure to apply.
The White House told CNN that Witkoff and Kushner have Trump’s “full confidence” and what the newspaper described as a “record of success,” including ending the war in Gaza.
Israeli officials fear that even a partial lifting of economic pressure could stabilize Iran’s weakened regime. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former national security adviser, Meir Ben-Shabbat, wrote in the Israeli newspaper Makor Rishon over the weekend that any deal should avoid allowing the regime to return, pointing instead to President Trump’s recent remarks that “no deal is probably better” as a preferable outcome to a deal that does not meet Israel’s objectives.
Israel’s security establishment is particularly concerned about an interim agreement that extends the ceasefire, reopens the Strait of Hormuz, and eases economic pressure on Iran without ever touching the nuclear file.
Iran insists that the preliminary agreement covers only sanctions relief and the strait, relegating the nuclear issue to a later stage.
A senior Israeli official told CNN that Israel remains on high alert for any breakdown in negotiations. “We’re always on top of the situation. If there’s no deal we’ll be happy, if the siege of Hormuz continues we’ll be happy, if Iran gets hit a few more times we’ll be happy,” he said, acknowledging that the decision ultimately rests with Trump. He said escalation was a realistic scenario “if Iran continues to negotiate and prolongs negotiations.”
Another source familiar with the talks said the United States and Israel continue to coordinate potential military plans in Iran, including attacks on energy facilities and infrastructure and targeted killings of Iranian leaders if talks fail.
Boaz Bismuth, chairman of the Israeli Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, reflected the general view in a tweet after a secret meeting with military leaders.
“It’s either a negotiation or a boom,” he posted on Sunday.
An Israeli source told CNN that negotiations have floated the idea of a sunset clause, which would allow some restrictions to expire after a certain number of years. The expiration would allow Iran to resume some nuclear activities, as in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated under President Barack Obama. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump have repeatedly criticized the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and Israel is wary that the current negotiating framework could contain similar elements.
According to the official, Israel is seeking to insert two clauses that distinguish it from the JCPOA: a total ban on enrichment during the sunset period and the dismantling of Iran’s Fordow underground facility and the Pickaxe Mountain site. Both are highly fortified underground facilities where Iran is believed to be evolving its nuclear capabilities.
A senior Israeli military official told reporters last month that the war would be considered a failure if it ended without Iran’s enriched uranium being extracted.
