Israeli lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman, who heads the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, has warned that agreeing a ceasefire with Iran before its complete surrender is a mistake. "There is nothing more dangerous than leaving a wounded lion," he wrote in a post on X. "It will certainly lead us to another war within two or three years, and under much worse conditions."
"Against the backdrop of the astonishing military achievements of the IDF and the Mossad in the war against Iran, the final chord is particularly jarring and bitter," Lieberman wrote on X. "Instead of an unconditional surrender, the world has entered into difficult and tedious negotiations, with the ayatollahs' regime having no intention of giving up on uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, not the production and acquisition of ballistic missiles, and not the support and financing of terrorism in the region and around the world," he added.
"Already at the beginning of the war, I warned that there was nothing more dangerous than leaving a lion wounded. A ceasefire without a clear and unequivocal agreement will certainly lead us to another war in two or three years, and under much worse conditions," he said further.
The 12-day war between Israel and Iran ended with the announcement of a ceasefire. Israel also stated that it had accepted the bilateral ceasefire proposal put forward by the United States. In a statement issued on Tuesday, Israel said it "agrees to the US proposal for a bilateral ceasefire with Iran and will respond strongly if it is violated."
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The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said that the Prime Minister held meetings with the Cabinet, the Defence Minister, the Chief of Army Staff, and the head of Mossad. According to the statement, Israel has eliminated nuclear and ballistic missile threats, gained full control of the skies over Tehran, inflicted heavy losses on Iran's military leadership, and destroyed several key Iranian government facilities. The statement also confirmed that another senior Iranian nuclear scientist had been killed.
Israel thanked President Donald Trump and the United States for their support and partnership in eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat. “In realisation of the goals of the operation and in full coordination with President Trump, Israel has accepted the President's proposal for a bilateral ceasefire. Israel has warned that it will respond strongly to any violation of the ceasefire.”
However, political commentator Ori Goldberg criticised the Israeli government’s claim of having achieved all its objectives in Iran before the truce, calling it “ridiculous.” Speaking to Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv, Goldberg said, “It is really unclear, to say the least, what Israel’s goals were. Over the past week, we heard Israel talk about everything from the decapitation of the nuclear programme to regime change.” While acknowledging some damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities, Goldberg added that it remains “completely unclear” whether Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile was affected.
He concluded that Israel likely agreed to the ceasefire due to increasing damage from Iranian attacks and mounting pressure from the Trump administration.