Report: Netanyahu to Get White House Invitation in September as He Warns of Iran Deal Dangers
JERUSALEM, Israel – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu''s office reacted Saturday to reports of the $6 billion agreement between the U.S. and Iran to release 5 Iranian-American prisoners.
Netanyahu's reaction to news of last week's deal comes as a report Sunday in the Israeli daily Yediot Ahranot quoted a senior U.S. official who said Netanyahu will receive an invitation to visit the White House in September after he addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Until now, the Biden administration had not committed to meeting the prime minister in Washington. He has not been invited to the White House in his nearly eight months in office.
Highlighting his nation's concern over the prisoner exchange agreement, the Prime Minister's Office commented Saturday, “Israel's position is known. Arrangements that do not dismantle Iran's nuclear infrastructure do not stop its nuclear program and only provide it with funds that will go to terrorist elements sponsored by Iran.”
A prisoner exchange agreement concluded August 10th between Washington and Tehran would free up $6 billion in oil revenues for Iran involving a funds transfer from a South Korean bank to Qatar as part of a plan the Biden administration hopes will deescalate tensions between the two countries.
The prisoners released from Iran's notorious Evin Prison include Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi, Morad Tahbaz, and two unnamed individuals whose families want their identities to remain anonymous. They are said to be in a hotel in Tehran under house arrest for a period of weeks.
The number and identities of U.S.-held Iranian prisoners potentially involved in the exchange has not been disclosed.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Iran has slowed the pace of its uranium enrichment, and while White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby said he couldn't confirm that report, he said "any steps that Iran might take to slow down enrichment certainly would be welcome."
Israel has consistently maintained that it will do whatever is needed to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
The Netanyahu government will send Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer to Washington this week to discuss the impact of the deal, as well as White House plans for normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, according to the Hebrew language website, Walla News.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid also criticized the U.S.-Tehran exchange, while blaming Netanyahu for souring relations with Washington by promoting judicial reform legislation, creating the climate for the White House action.
He tweeted on X, "Now the Americans have closed a deal with the Iranians that will pour billions of dollars into the Iranian nuclear program and no one listens to the Israeli position.”
The U.S.-Iran agreement also drew heavy criticism from many Republicans on Capitol Hill and Middle East experts who said it's essentially a ransom payment that will encourage Tehran to take future hostages.
Mark Dubowitz, president of the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, noted, "In the real world, where cash is fungible, it will free up $6 billion to be used for terrorism, funding drones for Russia, domestic repression, and nuclear weapons expansion. Only when the regime is severely punished for illegally seizing hostages, not rewarded with billions in ransom payments, will it put a stop to these humanitarian abuses."
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