AA Edit | Israel’s Beirut Hits Putting Iran-US Peace Deal At Risk

The much-vaunted peace deal between the United States and Iran is in danger thanks to Israeli intransigence. Not a signatory to the accord that was intended to end the Iran conflict, Israel continues to recklessly flaunt its ability to strike freely in southern Lebanon where its latest transgression has led to the loss of lives.

For decades, Israel may have been brandishing its existential crisis of decades to setting off periodical wars in the region and in recent times has been responding, excessively it must be said, to the October 7 attack by the Iran proxy Hamas of Gaza, an organisation that swears and lives by terror. But, at a moment when a larger deal aiming to put an end to conflicts in the region and giving peace a chance is being jeopardised by the rogue attitude being displayed by Israel.

Not even warnings from Washington that the last true ally of the Jewish state lies across the Atlantic Ocean seem to have inhibited Israel from sticking to a path of military aggression which led first to the decimation of the Gaza Strip and the dismantling of the Hamas threat and then to a territorial push into Lebanon in the guise of taming Hezbollah, perhaps the stronger arm of proxies nurtured by Iranian arms and financing.

The fact of the matter is that the US, quite prepared to give unprecedented concessions to Iran to get out of a long-distance war of aerial bombing which it foolishly agreed to pursue at the behest of a beleaguered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is now being impeded by the same person whose re-election may be doubtful and who is empowered in his prime ministerial position now only because of the war, against Gaza first and now Hezbollah.

No US President or his aides may have used the kind of language against Israel as Mr Donald Trump did most recently, calling out Mr Netanyahu and threatening to upend the concrete ties that have lasted from the time before Israel was created and which have kept the nation supplied with arms and financial support in a cauldron of the region in West Asia. But that seems to have had no effect on Israel which seems quite prepared to continue with cross-border attacks in the air and on land.

Under fire from critics at home who seem convinced that the US President has sold out to Iran to buy peace at any cost to stanch his fear of runaway inflation and rising fuel prices at home that could affect his Republican party politically as well, Mr Trump faces the challenge of convincing Israel to respect the call for peace in the region, including Lebanon. Will Mr Netanyahu ever buy the argument that peace might give his nation a chance too to pause fighting and rebuild while giving space for the people and the economy to breathe.

The 60-day clock had started ticking but valuable time was already lost as the start was jinxed by Israeli aggression. The US may be coming out weaker after being unable to win the war in terms of fulfilling its aims and may have to pay the price strategically too for years to come. But, without Israel’s cooperation, the deal might lie dormant even if ships are moving through the Strait of Hormuz much to the relief of the rest of the world crimped by the shutdown and blockade. The harsh truth is Israel is playing the dog in the manger.