Why Benjamin Netanyahu poses an obstacle to US and Iran peace deal

Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu hold a press conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on 29 December 2025. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters View image in fullscreen Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu hold a press conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on 29 December 2025. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters Analysis Why Benjamin Netanyahu poses an obstacle to US and Iran peace deal Andrew Roth in Washington Prime minister under pressure to show his campaigns against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran have brought results as he faces elections with his political survival at risk If there is to be a peace deal between United States and Iran, it will have to go through a familiar obstacle: Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have become a sticking point in the talks for a potential opening of the strait of Hormuz – once again testing the volatile alliance between Donald Trump and Netanyahu . This time, the Israeli prime minister is under exceptional pressure to show that his campaigns against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran have brought results as he faces elections with his political survival at risk. The Israeli leader’s threats on Monday to bomb the southern suburbs of Beirut in order to dislodge Hezbollah led Iran to say it would cut off negotiations with the United States until that conflict was frozen. Trump, facing the collapse of talks after he had claimed a deal was imminent, replied: “I think we’ve been talking too much.” The crisis culminated in a phone call – by one account stormy – between Trump and Netanyahu. “What the fuck are you doing?” Trump said to the Israeli prime minister , one official told Axios, a US outlet that has frequently had inside access to Trump’s frustration with Netanyahu. “You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me,” another person characterised Trump’s remarks. That account is disputed. Israel’s Channel 12 said that the focus was a misunderstanding between the two men: “Trump felt Netanyahu implied the war was continuing at full intensity, while Netanyahu felt Trump implied a total ceasefire,” wrote Amit Segal, the channel’s chief political analyst, citing a close aide to Netanyahu. “There was a little glitch today, but I turned that one around very quickly, as you probably noticed earlier,” Trump later told ABC News. Netanyahu has seen five US presidents since he first served as Israel’s prime minister in 1996 and has famously gotten under the skin of all of them. (“Who’s the fucking superpower here?” Bill Clinton was said to have exclaimed after their first meeting in 1996.) But it is a uniquely fraught moment for Netanyahu. On Monday, the Knesset voted 106-0 to pass the first reading of a bill to dissolve Israel’s parliament, and early elections are expected in the autumn. After earlier surges in polling following successful strikes on Iran’s leadership, Netanyahu’s popularity rating has slumped as the war in Iran, as well as conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon