As we’ve all heard by now, Bibi Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, is convinced claims that the deal the P5+1 countries just negotiated with Iran is a horrible one, one which will undoubtedly allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons and destroy Israel. That’s despite the assurances from all the negotiators that in fact inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities will be far more rigorous than those done in other countries who’ve signed the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. There are 191 countries who have.

At its core the Treaty has one central point: “the NPT non-nuclear-weapon states agree never to acquire nuclear weapons and the NPT nuclear-weapon states in exchange agree to share the benefits of peaceful nuclear technology and to pursue nuclear disarmament aimed at the ultimate elimination of their nuclear arsenals.”

Say, has Israel ever signed that treaty? No. No it has not.

On 18 September 2009 the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency called on Israel to open its nuclear facilities to IAEA inspection and adhere to the non-proliferation treaty as part of a resolution on “Israeli nuclear capabilities,” which passed by a narrow margin of 49–45 with 16 abstentions. The chief Israeli delegate stated that “Israel will not co-operate in any matter with this resolution.”

Since it’s pretty common knowledge that Israel has several hundred nuclear weapons buried around its countryside, where then does Bibi Netanyahu get off demanding that Iran be denied any opportunity to develop what it insists are peaceful uses for nuclear power and further demanding that the UN Security Council (the P5) and Germany (the +1) back up its demands?

Juan Cole, longtime Middle East observer and Professor of History at the U of Michigan, has his own ideas why Netanyahu opposes the deal:

Netanyahu has showed his hand. He wants to use the USA and the Treasury Department to sanction Iran into penury, to keep its middle classes small and shrinking and to cut people’s income, education and health care. He wants a total war on Iran, including on Iranian women, children and non-combatants.

Well, maybe. It’s interesting that Zack Beauchamp of Vox agrees with Cole that Bibi’s goal is crippling sanctions, sanctions so tough that Iran will do anything to get out from under them.

I wonder why no one has suggested to Netanyahu that the Iranians have shown that without a deal they’ll keep trying to develop their nuclear capability, even under heavy sanctions. Does he really believe that old saw that “Beatings will continue until morale improves?” I’ve never seen that work, myself.