The interim peace deal between the United States of America and Iran has, understandably, led to international attention being focused on the noises emerging from Washington and Tehran. But the elephant in the room — a rogue elephant at that — should not be ignored — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Mr Netanyahu has reasons to be concerned about the nature of the final deal because the framework agreement that was announced on Sunday failed to address some of Israel’s fundamental concerns. For instance, would the final deal snip Iran’s wings when it comes to its ballistic missiles arsenal? Would Tehran be forced to cease the funding of Hezbollah in Lebanon or of the Houthis in Yemen? The final nail in the coffin of Iran’s nuclear programme would also be negotiated in the next 60 days: the contours of that constrainment, much to Mr Netanyahu’s chagrin, are not clear yet. There has been another unkind blow for the Israeli leader. Donald Trump, the ally on which Mr Netanyahu depends the most, has shown increasing signs of being cut up with the Israeli prime minister: the US president did not use charitable words to describe Mr Netanyahu recently. The fact that Mr Netanyahu evidently took Mr Trump for a ride in the context of the war with Iran may be the likely reason for this increasing strain.
Worse, there has been a growing public backlash against Mr Netanyahu at home. Many Israelis, including the political Right, are unhappy with the provisions of the temporary truce. The Israeli prime minister faces a stern electoral test in the near future and his ratings at the moment are not impressive. Peace was achieved at the right time for the world but at the wrong time for Mr Netanyahu who needed to draw electoral mileage out of a prolonged conflict. The challenge for the US, West Asian stakeholders and the world would be to ensure that Mr Netanyahu refrains from sabotaging what is, at the moment, a fragile peace. Should New Delhi, which has been shepherded closer to Jerusalem under the present regime’s watch, do more to convince its ally to choose peace and stability over war? There could be electoral brownie points — seemingly an incentive for Narendra Modi and his party — in that.