Existential Threats Disbelieved?
A U.S.-Iran peace deal set to be signed in Switzerland leaves Israel unnamed and uninvited, a stunning sidelining of a government that assumed its war would win it a seat at the table.
Rev. J. Mark Davidson
6/18/20263 min read
U.S. and Iranian officials are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding in Switzerland on Friday. Apparently, last-minute back-channel communications could continue right up to the time of signing. So, the 14-points that were released today at the time of this writing, are presumably not quite final. However, it is worth noting the language in the first point of the proposed agreement:
“The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, together with their allies in the current war, declare upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertake that from now on they will not launch any hostile action against each other…”
To my mind, three things are especially noteworthy:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the top echelons of political and military power in Israel assumed that their war of aggression, which killed thousands of Iranians, attacked civilian infrastructure, and assassinated several key Iranian leaders, including the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini, established them as a force to be reckoned with, and earned them a seat at the negotiating table. Instead, they were sidelined. They are not even named in the agreement. They are not officially a party to the negotiations. Basically, the parent companies – the United States and Iran – struck a deal, and Israel was treated as a subsidiary who was expected to fall in line and meet the conditions of the agreement. This is a humbling takedown. It’s a huge slap in the face to Israel’s aspirations to be the dominant military power in the region. For those of us who see Israel as a belligerent, expansionist rogue state which has caused untold suffering in the region, this is a welcome development.
Iran demanded that Lebanon be included in the ceasefire. If Israel refuses to end its bombing of Lebanon, withdraw its forces, and respect the sovereignty of Lebanon, then the ceasefire between Iran and the United States will surely fail. With the midterms looming, Trump is keen to end this disastrous war with Iran, and has made it clear that he expects Israel to comply with the terms of deal. If they don’t, the Strait of Hormuz will not open, Gulf States’ oil and gas facilities could be re-targeted by Iran, and the shocks to the global economy will worsen. It is striking that the United States, which has long been Israel’s unconditional supplier and strident defender, is charting different waters. It now rightly views Israel as a big problem. Vice-President Vance has said that Israel wants this war to continue “until the last bomb has been dropped, and the last Iranian has died.” Not only is this maniacal militarism. It also collides with the Trump administration’s desire to put this fiasco behind them as quickly as possible. The American agenda and the Israeli agenda could not be farther apart. Obviously, it’s something we haven’t seen in decades. As someone who believes it’s high time that the United States put greater distance between itself and apartheid-genocidal Israel, this also is a welcome development.
At the heart of Netanyahu’s dream of dragging the United States into its war with Iran was his false claim that Iran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. Mere weeks away, he breathlessly warned. Yet, U.S. and western intelligence agencies assessed in 2025 that Iran was, in fact, not building a nuclear weapon. They also determined that even if Iran changed direction and began pursuing a nuclear weapon, it was likely at least a year away. Nonetheless, Netanyahu and his neocon allies in the U.S. were relentless in pushing the ridiculous assertion that Iran’s nuclear program constituted an urgent “existential threat” to Israel. If there is an “existential threat” to any nation, it is to Iran. Israel holds hundreds of nuclear weapons to Iran’s zero. Foreign intelligence agencies – the CIA, Mossad, and likely MI6 – have infiltrated Iran and are plotting regime-change coups. Israeli and US bombing campaigns have killed thousands, assassinated their leaders, and wreaked tremendous destruction in their country. Similarly, Netanyahu also false claimed that Hezbollah constituted “an existential threat” to Israel. Based on these wild claims, you’d think Israel was on the verge of annihilation. In fact, Israel has lost a fraction of the losses it has inflicted on Lebanon….An estimated 160 Israelis, @80 of whom were soldiers have died in Hezbollah rockets fired into Northern Israel and guerilla tactics resisting Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon. On the other hand, Israel has killed at least 5,800 Lebanese, including hundreds of children, injured hundreds of thousands, and displaced 1.2 million Lebanese from their homes. Again, if any nation in the Israel-Lebanon war is facing an “existential threat” it is Lebanon, not Israel. I mention this because there is evidence that U.S. leaders may finally be seeing through Netanyahu’s hysterical hype. What happens when “Mr. Security” comes up empty-handed? When his justifications collapse? When he is not invited to the Big Table? I recognize it is probably overly hopeful, but It brings to mind the scene in Death of a Salesman: “…you’re out there riding on a smile, and when they start not smiling back – that’s an earthquake. And then you get a few spots on your hat, and you’re finished.”