Officials in the Obama administration have admitted privately that Israel was correct about the value of sanctions relief in the deal on Iran’s nuclear program struck in Geneva last month, according to Ha’aretz.
In defending the deal at the time, U.S. officials said it only offered $6-7 billion of sanctions relief. Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deal an “historic mistake,” estimated that the value of sanctions relief was closer to $20 billion. Now the Obama administration is admitting that Israel was correct.
If Israel was right, and Obama was wrong, about a relatively small (though significant) part of the deal, how much can any of the administration’s reassurances on bigger issues–such as highly-enriched uranium or nuclear “breakout” times–be trusted? Clearly, the White House just wanted a deal–any deal–at any price.