The challenge for the United States and Israel alike is ensuring that the display of American power near Iran does not become a substitute for strategic rigor.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Washington today for an urgent meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump underscores Israel’s deep concern that a renewed diplomatic process with Iran, moving quickly and under intense political pressure, could lead to a narrow and strategically insufficient agreement. The urgency of the moment is heightened by Trump’s decision to position a massive U.S. armada near Iran, including carrier strike groups, advanced aircraft and naval escorts in the Gulf and Arabian Sea, intended to signal resolve and back diplomacy with force.
Yet as Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations at Bar Ilan and Reichman universities, and former Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat warn, military pressure without clear political red lines risks becoming set dressing for a deal that is expedient but dangerous. They caution that military pressure without strategic clarity risks enabling precisely the outcome Israel fears most: a narrow nuclear deal that restores Iran’s legitimacy and resources while leaving its core threats intact.
Gilboa, also a senior researcher at the BESA Center for Strategic Studies. told JNS that Iran interprets the U.S. buildup through the prism of Trump’s overriding preference to avoid war. Tehran does not underestimate American power, but appears convinced that Trump views the threat of military force primarily as leverage.
