Israel Debates No. 15 24 February 2014 The Geneva Interim Agreement in the Inner-Israeli Dispute The Geneva agreement between the P5+1 powers and Iran over Iran´s nuclear program was negotiated in November last year with implementation beginning on January 20. The agreement freezes the Iranian nuclear program at its current level, bans the enrichment of uranium above5%, and enforces strict monitoring of Iranian nuclear facilities. In return, the P5+1 powers promised to relax sanctions against the regime, which have brought about a severe economic crisis in Iran. Hence the interim agreement can be considered as a first step on a long road of further negotiations about the Iranian nuclear program. While the USA and Europe welcomed the agreement, Israel was outraged and rejected it. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the agreement a“historical mistake , ” and members of his Likud party even compared it to the 1938 Munich agreement. Israel ’s representatives and its public fear that Iran is making superficial concessions merely in order to deceive the West, while secretly still seeking nuclear weapons. Despite the agreement and the concomitant ban of nuclear enrichment, Israeli nuclear weapons experts believe that Iran will be able to develop nuclear warheads within four to six months. For Netanyahu and most Israelis the danger still exists that Iran will use its nuclear capabilities against Israel, and follow through with its anti-Israeli rhetoric so as to wipe out the Jewish state. Naftali Bennett, Minister of Economics and Trade, has therefore stressed that Israel does not feel itself bound by the agreement and will exercise its right of self-defense when it feels threatened by the Iranian nuclear program. Hence the option of an Israeli military strike against the Iranian nuclear facilities is still very much on the table. Nevertheless, now that the agreement has been signed, military cooperation between the USA and Israel has become less likely. The regional implications of the agreement are also causing concern to Israel. If the international community lets Iran become a nuclear threshold state, then other