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Israel: Former Mossad chief urges rapprochement with Iran
18 March 2023 06:04
Israel’s former spymaster has called for his country to explore whether a rapprochement with Iran is possible following a dramatic breakthrough in relations between Tehran and Riyadh last week.
Efraim Halevy, the former director of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, made the comments in an interview on CNN, according to Middle East Eye.
Describing the deals as “very startling”, Halevy urged Israeli leaders not to “prejudge” the deal but to find ways of working with the new development.
“[Israel should] understand what it is that brought the Iranians to their rapprochement with Saudi Arabia,” said Halevy.
Halevy went on to ask whether “the time has come for Israel also to seek a different policy towards Iran”.
Israel should explore in a “concealed manner” the possibility of rapprochement between Israel and Iran, said Halevy.
While Halevy accepted that such a possibility might be low, he cautioned that such a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia also looked inconceivable just weeks ago.
Following Chinese-led negotiations, Tehran and Riyadh agreed to resume diplomatic relations last week and reopen embassies within two months, according to a statement released by both sides.
That China could pull off such an agreement should be more deeply analysed, said Halevy.
The Chinese format could provide a “different approach to the Iranian-Israeli conflict” which Tel Aviv had not previously considered, added the former spy chief.
“We had a very, very good relationship with Iran under the previous leadership of the Shah. There is no real conflict of interest between Israel and Iran.
"We don't have a territorial confrontation. We don't have a common border and there is no real reason that there should be a state of war between Israel and Iran,” said Halevy.
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