'This week is our week:' Israel made its Iran heist public to challenge Trump's talks with European leaders

AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner

• Israel is urgently trying to convince President Donald Trump to not withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal after he met with two European leaders last week.
• French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with the President on two separate occasions last week.
• A senior Israeli official reportedly said, "Last week was for the Europeans, and this week is our week" for convincing Trump.
• Trump has threatened to pull the US from the 2015 Iran deal if world leaders cannot "fix" the deal by May 12.

Israel is urgently trying to convince President Donald Trump to not withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal after he met with two European leaders last week.

Israel's President Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of "brazenly lying" about its nuclear capabilities in a speech on Monday, where he also revealed a secret Mossad mission that stole 110,000 nuclear-related documents. Netanyahu dramatically unveiled the CDs and binders of documents which he said were stolen directly from a Tehran facility.

According to senior Israeli officials who spoke with Barak Ravid, a journalist for Israel's Channel 10 News, Israel's decision to display the trove of documents came following the president's meetings at the end of April with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"We are facing a critical decision by President Trump regarding the nuclear deal. Last week was for the Europeans, and this week is our week," a senior Israeli official told Ravid.

Both leaders tried to convince Trump to not withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal ahead of a May 12 deadline.

During several meetings with Trump, Macron urged the president to keep the US in the 2015 nuclear deal, which lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for ending its nuclear weapons program, because there is no "Plan B." While the two got along very well, Macron later said he believed Trump would still exit the Iran deal.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also visited Trump last Friday, attempting to add to Macron's efforts to save the current agreement.

But Merkel appeared to only push the issue softly after her meeting with Trump, saying that the Iran deal was only the "first step" towards plans to stop Iran's nuclear procurement, and hinted at an openness towards new negotiations.

Trump has threatened to withdraw the US from the deal unless European negotiators agree to fix what he has called "disastrous flaws in the deal."

Delegations from France, Germany, and the UK are set to arrive in Israel this week for a briefing on the intelligence obtained in Iran's nuclear documents, Israel's Prime Minister told journalists on Tuesday.

Merkel previously told Israel that an "imperfect" nuclear deal limiting Iran's nuclear capabilities is better than no deal at all.

Iran has denied Israel's recent claims, and said Netanyahu's speech was littered with "worn-out, useless and shameful" misrepresentations.