TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s prime minister said Sunday that the emerging deal on Iran’s nuclear program is less stringent than the previous accord, which was left in tatters after the United States pulled out, pushed by Israel.

World powers negotiated in Vienna in a bid to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, which granted sanctions relief to Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program. Israel vehemently opposed the deal and urged negotiators to take a hard line against Iran in the current round of talks.

Iranian lawmakers, meanwhile, have urged the Iranian president to seek guarantees from the United States and three European countries that they will not withdraw from the deal after it is renegotiated.

“The emerging new deal is shorter and weaker than the previous one,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told a cabinet meeting.

He said the deal would see Iran curb its nuclear activity for two-and-a-half years, instead of the 10 years provided for by the previous collapsed deal, granting sanctions relief to Iran for only a brief slowdown in its nuclear activity. After that, he said, Iran could develop and install “centrifuge stadiums”.

Bennett said the sanctions relief would free up money for Iran to use to fund its proxies along Israel’s borders.

“The State of Israel is preparing anyway and is ready for the next day, in all parameters, so that we know how to protect Israeli civilians on our own,” he said.

Israel considers Iran its greatest enemy. He strongly opposed the 2015 agreement and watched with concern as ongoing talks continued.

He says he wants an improved deal that places tougher restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and addresses Iran’s long-range missile program and its support for hostile proxies along Israel’s borders, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant.

Israel has also insisted that the negotiations must be accompanied by a “credible” military threat to ensure that Iran does not delay indefinitely.

Under strong encouragement from former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump pulled out of the original deal in 2018, causing it to crumble. Since then, Iran has stepped up its nuclear activities, amassing a stockpile of highly enriched uranium that goes far beyond the limits of the deal.

Despite Israel’s support for Trump’s withdrawal, prominent voices in the country have retrospectively declared the move a mistake.

In Iran, meanwhile, the Iranian parliament’s news agency, ICANA, reported that 250 lawmakers in a statement urged President Ebrahim Raisi and his negotiating team to seek guarantees from the United States and the other three countries. Europeans that they will not withdraw from the agreement after it is renegotiated.

Iran’s hardline-dominated parliament has the power to approve or reject any proposed deal between Iran and the other parties in Vienna.

The United States participated indirectly in the ongoing talks due to its withdrawal from the original agreement. President Joe Biden has signaled he wants to join the deal.

Under Trump, the United States reimposed heavy sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Tehran responded by increasing the purity and quantities of uranium it enriches and stockpiles, in violation of the agreement – officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.

Iran has long insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful. But the country’s moves to stray from its obligations under the deal have alarmed arch-enemy Israel and world powers.

Tehran has started enriching uranium to 60% purity – a short technical step compared to the 90% needed to make an atomic bomb, and running much more advanced centrifuges than those allowed by the deal.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told attendees of the annual Munich security conference on Saturday that the talks have come a long way in the past 10 months and that “all elements for a conclusion of the negotiations are on the table”. But he also criticized Iran for stepping up its enrichment and restricting inspections by observers from the UN nuclear agency.

Iran’s foreign minister said it was up to Western countries to show flexibility and “the ball is now in their court”.