For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, the war he had hoped would secure his legacy — Israel and the United States together attacking Iran — may be ending in a way that could sully it.
The framework agreement to end the war, announced on Sunday, omits some of the most important things Israel wanted.
The full text of the deal has not yet been released, and Israel was not directly involved in the negotiations. But initial details suggest that it does nothing to curb Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal, or its funding of regional proxies like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, who have attacked Israel with their own arsenals. It could help Iran bolster those proxies by easing sanctions, which would allow billions of dollars to flow into its bank accounts.
When it comes to constraining Iran’s nuclear program — a matter of greatest importance to Israel and the greatest priority of Mr. Netanyahu’s career — the terms of the deal remain undisclosed or still to be negotiated during the agreed 60-day cease-fire. Questions remain over what will become of Iran’s stock of highly enriched uranium and whether the country will be able to keep enriching nuclear fuel.
And while Israeli officials disputed this, Iranian officials said on Sunday that the framework included a halt to “military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, effective immediately.” That could constrain Israel’s battle against Hezbollah.
“The agreement with Iran is bad for Israel and the entire free world. Period,” Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right finance minister, wrote on social media.
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