IT'S POLITICS, NOT NATIONAL SECURITY:

Entitled simply, "IDF Strategy," and authored by the chief of staff, Lt. Gen Gadi Eisenkot, the paper is a dry, dispassionate assessment of changing threats, military goals, and guiding principles for warfare. It marks the first time the army has ever released such a report to the public.

"It's not a secret that some high-ranking people in the Israeli security establishment, including the IDF, view this deal more favorably than the prime minister,'' says Amir Tibon, diplomatic correspondent for "Walla!," an Israeli news website.  "On the one hand, they think that the deal does indeed push Iran away from the bomb, which is a good thing. On the other hand, they share Netanyahu's concern about Iran using sanctions relief money to increase its support for terror proxies across the region.''

Netanyahu argues that Iran's nuclear program is the top destabilizing factor in the Middle East, on par with Nazi Germany's march to war in the late 1930's. By contrast, the IDF document mentions Iran by name only once. Missing from a section providing an overview of threats to Israel is the word "nuclear" or any other reference to Iran's atomic program, notes Mr. Tibon.

Writing in the liberal Haaretz newspaper, veteran defense commentator Amir Oren said that the IDF paper reflects a view that the threat of a nuclear Iran "has gone on vacation until 2025.''

Asked to comment on the strategy document, a senior Israeli military official cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the army's positions on the Iran deal. However, other Israeli defense analysts say the omissions weren't a coincidence.

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