Published on 6/20/2026
Israeli Channel 12 reported that officials in the American administration began working on establishing informal communication channels with the leaders of the Israeli opposition, searching for alternatives in light of the fractured relationship with the Israeli government.
The Israeli channel said that parties in the American administration considered very close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are seeking to communicate with opposition parties, specifically with former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
According to the report, this move comes in the context of Washington’s search for political alternatives against the backdrop of what the channel described as the current “rift” in relations between the administration of US President Donald Trump and the Netanyahu government, due to Israel’s opposition to the memorandum of understanding that Washington signed with Tehran.
Israeli Channel 12 indicated that estimates by parties within the US administration indicate that there is a high possibility of a change in government in Israel, which Washington sees as a good reason to build additional bridges and understandings for the post-Netanyahu era.
These developments come with increasing tensions between the White House and the Netanyahu government. Washington wants to give the memorandum of understanding with Iran an opportunity to transform into a broader settlement within 60 days of negotiations, while Tel Aviv fears that the agreement will restrict its hand in Lebanon and postpone files that it considers essential, most notably the Iranian nuclear program and ballistic missiles.
The memorandum stipulates an immediate and permanent cessation of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the lifting of the naval blockade on Iran, with a gradual lifting of sanctions on its oil exports.
Criticisms
US Vice President J.D. Vance issued harsh public criticism of Israeli officials who attacked Washington’s agreement with Tehran, describing the reaction inside Israel as “strange panic” and “panic,” before reminding Benjamin Netanyahu’s government that it does not have the luxury of attacking its “only strong ally” remaining in the world.
Vance singled out National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in statements in an interview with the New York Times published Thursday, and then in a White House briefing, asking: “What exactly is your proposal? You are a country of nine million people. You cannot simply rely on murder as a means to solve every national security problem you have.”
Ben Gvir responded, via the “X” platform, saying: “This is the proposal… to deal with the Nazis of the twenty-first century, as the United States dealt with the Nazis of the twentieth century.”
This response reflects the intensity of rejection within the Israeli right of any truce with Iran and Hezbollah, especially in the Lebanese arena.
On Friday, the Washington Post quoted US officials as saying that US intelligence agencies had warned the Trump administration that Netanyahu might take steps that would undermine efforts to reach a permanent peace agreement with Iran.
She explained that intelligence reports indicate that Tel Aviv seems determined to continue military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which contradicts a basic clause in the emerging agreement that calls for stopping attacks there.
