Israeli Leaders Blast Trump-Iran Peace Deal, Warn Israel Not Bound By Lebanon Ceasefire

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) –

JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israeli leaders across the political spectrum reacted with fury and alarm Monday after President Donald Trump announced that the United States and Iran had reached a peace framework that would impose an immediate ceasefire across multiple fronts, reportedly including Lebanon.

The emerging agreement, announced after months of war, is expected to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, end the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, and launch a 60-day negotiation period over Tehran’s nuclear program. International leaders welcomed the deal as a major step toward de-escalation, but in Israel, the response was far more divided and deeply skeptical. (Reuters⁠)

According to U.S. and Iranian officials, the framework would end direct hostilities between Washington and Tehran while beginning new talks on Iran’s nuclear activity. Iranian and Pakistani sources said the agreement also includes a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terror group in Lebanon. (Axios⁠)

Israel, however, was reportedly not part of the negotiations despite having fought alongside the United States against Iran. The deal appears to fall short of the original war aims stated by Washington and Jerusalem, including the elimination of Iran’s nuclear program, the depletion of its ballistic missile arsenal, the end of Tehran’s support for terror proxies, and pressure on the regime itself.

There was no immediate public comment from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but several members of his coalition and opposition leaders accused the agreement of undercutting Israel’s security and leaving northern communities exposed.

Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed that Israel would not withdraw from southern Lebanon, warning that the Israel Defense Forces would remain in security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza “without any time limit” to protect Israeli border communities.

“We will not compromise on Israel’s security interests and the protection of our citizens, and we will not withdraw from the security zones,” Katz said, adding that if Iran attacks Israel over events in Lebanon, Israel will strike “with full force.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was among the first coalition figures to reject the deal, declaring that “Trump’s deal does not bind us.”

“Israel is not subordinate to the United States — we are an independent and sovereign state,” Ben Gvir said. “Our duty to the citizens of Israel, to IDF soldiers, and to the Jewish people is to provide security for Jews in the Land of Israel.”

Ben Gvir said Israel had paid heavily in the past when it bowed to international pressure, citing the Oslo Accords, the 2006 Lebanon agreement, and what he called years of containment toward Gaza.

“We love the U.S. and we are grateful to President Trump,” he added. “And at the same time — the State of Israel is not a banana republic.”

Ben Gvir said Israel must not accept anything short of Hezbollah’s dismantling, must not withdraw from territory cleared of terror infrastructure, and must not return to a reality in which northern Israeli communities live under threat.

“Any launch of a drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle, or a missile from Lebanon will lead to a strike on Dahiyeh,” he warned, referring to Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also condemned the agreement, calling it “bad for Israel and for the entire free world. Period.”

Opposition leaders were equally harsh, though they focused their criticism on Netanyahu, accusing him of allowing Israel’s battlefield achievements to be squandered at the diplomatic table.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said Netanyahu “lost the war” and collapsed in the “moment of truth.”

“The State of Israel won the battle; Netanyahu lost the war,” Lapid said. “The Israel Defense Forces fulfilled its missions, Netanyahu failed to deliver the goods.”

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar! party and a former IDF chief of staff, said Israel had awakened to an agreement being shaped “far from here and far from Israeli interests.”

“Almost three years after the catastrophe of October 7, after a heavy price paid and military achievements worthy of note, Israel wakes up this morning to a deal taking shape far from here and far from Israeli interests,” Eisenkot said. “The gap between the hollow promises of ‘total victory’ and this morning could not be wider.”

Eisenkot said residents of northern Israel, displaced and threatened for more than two years, were again being forced to learn about their fate through foreign leaders rather than their own government.

“Residents of the north, who were abandoned for two and a half years, discover this morning that their homes and their security remain exposed to threat,” he said. “We will not leave them alone.”

Yair Golan, chairman of The Democrats party, called it “a difficult morning for Israel,” saying Israeli citizens were waking up to an agreement “made over Israel’s head.”

Golan accused Trump of signing a deal that would funnel billions to the Iranian regime, leave nuclear infrastructure in place, preserve Iran’s ballistic missile threat, and give Tehran a political lifeline. He also accused Netanyahu of dismantling Israel’s alliances and leaving the country isolated at the moment of truth.

Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned that Israel must not accept any restriction on its freedom of action in Lebanon or any withdrawal that would endanger northern residents.

“The emerging deal with Iran looks like a strategic failure that will require Israel to wage a diplomatic, military, and legal struggle in the years ahead,” Gantz said, arguing that only a broad Zionist government could lead such a fight.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also criticized the government, saying Israel’s military and security forces had performed extraordinarily during the war, but the government had again failed to turn battlefield success into long-term security gains.

“This morning, we learned that the government is once again incapable of turning all of that into lasting security achievements,” Bennett said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told regional counterparts Monday that Israeli military action in Lebanon must be completely halted and that Washington bears responsibility for implementing the framework agreement. His comments underscored Israel’s concern that Tehran views the deal not only as a U.S.-Iran ceasefire, but as a mechanism to restrain Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah.

For Israel, the central question now is whether the Trump administration will pressure Jerusalem to halt operations in Lebanon — and whether Netanyahu’s government will resist.

The debate comes as Israel continues to face an Iranian-backed ring of fire, from Hezbollah in Lebanon to militias in Syria, Hamas in Gaza, and Tehran’s ballistic missile and nuclear infrastructure. For many Israelis, the concern is that a diplomatic agreement with Iran may quiet the region temporarily while leaving the underlying threat intact.

Latest Worthy News