Former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy harshly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday for his insistence that world powers demand Iran recognize Israel's right to exist, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Netanyahu had said Friday that any final nuclear deal with Iran must include a clear and unambiguous recognition by Tehran of Israel's right to exist.
Netanyahu's comments came after a meeting of the security cabinet called to discuss the framework deal agreed upon Thursday between the world powers and Iran in Lausanne. This was the first time he has called for an explicit recognition of Israel by Iran.
Netanyahu said that Israel would not accept an agreement that “allows a country that vows to annihilate us to develop nuclear weapons, period.”
Speaking in an interview with Army Radio on Monday, Halevy said, "The demand from the Muslim world to recognize Israel's right to exist is almost like asking them to change their religion."
According to Halevy, "In Islam they don't recognize Israel's right, nor do they recognize the right of other nations to exist."