Tel Aviv's support for Trump's decision to nix Iran deal

The Jerusalem Post approached people at random on a main street in the Tel Aviv center and of all those who agreed to talk, not one expressed opposition to the US move.

By TAMARA ZIEVE
Updated: MAY 10, 2018 10:35
PM Netanyahu applauds Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran deal and renew sanctions, May 8, 2018 (GPO)
The overwhelming feeling on the streets of Tel Aviv on Wednesday was clear - US President Donald did the right thing in pulling out of the nuclear deal with Iran and five other world powers.
The Jerusalem Post approached people at random on a main street in the Tel Aviv center and of all those who agreed to talk, not one expressed opposition to the US move.
“You can’t be against it,” said Liran Yaakov, 32, a greengrocer from Ramat Gan. “This isn’t a matter of Left and Right, this is a collective matter for the whole country.”
“The bottom line is that if there is even a 0.01% chance that Iran is really developing nuclear weapons, then it is worth it for me to support this announcement,” Yaakov added.
He noted that in general, he opposes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “doesn’t believe a word that comes out of his mouth.” But the information he presented last week regarding the 100,000 Iranian nuclear documents Israel secretly obtained from a hidden vault in Tehran, he remarked, was retrieved by the Mossad, “and the Mossad wouldn’t have allowed him to tell lies,” Yaakov asserted.
“I think it was a good move,” said a 32-year-old programmer from Herzliya who declined to disclose his name.
“It might make Iran change its path,” he said hopefully. “Maybe, in the end, it will also help the Iranian citizens.”
“I 100% support Trump’s declaration,” said Yael Sitbon, a French immigrant in her forties, who lives in Tel Aviv and works in digital marketing. “We always knew Iran was making a nuclear bomb, and they continued and got what the wanted, so it’s good that Trump and Netanyahu did this together.”
European countries, she said, have closed their eyes to what Iran is doing, due to economic interests. “But Trump didn’t – he did want a man needs to do,” she asserts.
Shira Fishbein, 36, a stay-at- home mom from Tel Aviv also believes Trump did “what needed to be done, in light of the recent revelations.”
“This is what Israel has been saying for a long time and finally our voice was heard in the world,” she added. “It’s a shame that the Europeans don’t see eye to eye with us. I think maybe they need some time to see what the ramifications will be and how the Iranians will react... I hope they will understand in the end that this is what needed to be done.”
Both Sitbon and Fishbein admit they are concerned about the possibility of war, making reference to developments in the North that have taken place since the announcement.
“I think at the end of the day the IDF is ready, but I don’t know how ready Israel is with regard to the homefront – of course, it’s preferable that it won’t happen but I think we will have the power to react if something happens,” Fishbein reflected.
Shlomi, 38, a salesman from Hadera, also thinks Trump made an “excellent” move. “Our enemies are waiting at our door. We need to flex our muscles a bit, no?” he said. “From the moment we discovered that they are anyway building an atomic bomb, what was left for us to do? To wait for Doomsday?”