World News: Israel Is Left Scrambling for Answers As Pact to End War Nears Completion

“TEL AVIV -- President Trump's deal to wind down the war with Iran set off alarm bells in Israel, where top officials are wrestling with the consequences of easing the pressure on Tehran and the risks of opening a rift with the U.S. over the war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

 

The tension has been heightened by the lack of certainty about what exactly Trump has agreed to in the deal, which is expected to be signed this week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to set up a meeting with the president to sort out the competing issues, a person familiar with the matter said.

 

An Israeli strike over the weekend on Beirut in response to Hezbollah attacks on Israel almost derailed the agreement and set off a last-minute scramble by the White House and mediators to keep the deal on track.

 

Trump criticized the strike in an interview with The Wall Street Journal and said on social media Israel had to stop its attacks across Lebanon.

 

That was at odds with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement earlier that required Israel to end the fighting only if Hezbollah also stopped. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the U.S. was on the hook to end Israel's attacks and aggression in Lebanon, state media reported.

 

Defying those claims, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military would hold its so-called security zone in Lebanon indefinitely, saying it was needed to protect communities in northern Israel. He also said Israel would act independently to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons if necessary.

 

At a news conference Monday, Netanyahu declined to criticize the emerging deal and said his country's war aims in Iran had largely been achieved. He said Iran's war-production capacity had been damaged, its economy was in tatters, and its nuclear program set back.

 

"People ask what we have achieved, and the answer is: we have pushed away the immediate threat of annihilation," Netanyahu said. "The struggle is not over and done. We will need to continue to stand guard and defend ourselves as necessary."

 

Privately, Israeli officials are concerned that Trump has agreed to a deal that could provide Tehran with the financial relief it needs to rebuild its economy but doesn't include a commitment to turn over its enriched uranium.

 

It is a harsh comedown from Israeli hopes that the war would bring fundamental change to the region by toppling or crippling the Iranian regime and paving the way for diplomatic relations with more of Israel's Arab regional counterparts under a U.S. security umbrella, said Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington.

 

"If Iran receives sanctions relief of billions of dollars in assets, it will rebuild its military capabilities and proxies, and the blow to U.S. prestige in the region will be immense if not irreversible," Oren said.

 

Oren said Israel now has its back against the wall and can't make concessions in the fight against Hezbollah even if it risks its relationship with Trump.” [1]

 

1. World News: Israel Is Left Scrambling for Answers As Pact to End War Nears Completion. Lieber, Dov.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 16 June 2026: A8.