U.S.-Iran deal nears, while Netanyahu keeps public silence

A Hebrew commentary says the United States and Iran are close to a deal that would ease pressure on Tehran, yet the public reaction has been unusually muted even though reservations were reportedly raised in private Jerusalem-Washington talks. The piece argues that President Donald Trump is the key reason, because tactics Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used against Joe Biden or Barack Obama no longer work in the same way under Trump.

The article says the agreement’s details have not yet been made public, and both Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have criticized media reports about it. A senior Trump administration official briefing reporters repeated the American line that once the terms are known, the arrangement will seem less alarming. According to the report, Lebanon is included in the ceasefire, but the right to self-defense remains in place. Netanyahu’s overnight statement, the article adds, barely addressed the current deal and focused instead on a broader future agreement expected to be discussed over the next 60 days.

Looking back over the past year, the writer says Israel repeatedly pushed the U.S. toward striking Iran, a process that began even before Trump returned to office. Days before Trump entered the White House, Ron Dermer visited him at Mar-a-Lago with a photo of the countdown clock in Tehran’s Palestine Square, meant to underscore the urgency of attacking Iran. The goal was to secure a green light, and the article says that effort succeeded.

The piece marks one year since Operation “With All Your Might,” the joint Israeli-American strikes in Iran, and argues that the campaign reached a near-perfect opening but failed to produce a regime-destabilization phase after the first 100 hours. It says the result is that, by June 2026, the regime is expected to receive sanctions relief and permission to export oil, while Israeli and American officials say more direct confrontation may still lie ahead. The article cites Trump as saying the deal with Iran could be signed soon, possibly by the end of the week.