Apr 08, 2026 17:25 pm IST

Opinion | War Ally To Mere Bystander: Is This The Loneliest Day For Netanyahu?

Israel, the US's closest partner in the region and which lured Trump to take on Iran, was ultimately a mere spectator to the ceasefire agreement.

Kabir Taneja Kabir Taneja Columnist

Kabir Taneja Columnist

In the early hours of April 9, a few moments after US President Donald Trump took to social media and proclaimed that "a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again", Iran and the US agreed to a two-week ceasefire arrangement via mediation of Pakistan. This arrangement seems to be the off-ramp the American leader was looking for, an escape from a potential 'forever war', something he has spent a vast amount of time deriding former US presidents for during his campaigns.

It is difficult to deny that Trump was in a quagmire. The war was not only escalating but also entrenching into a protracted conflict. Long-standing regional fault-lines, which were actively being managed over the past years, were renewed and pulled back into a situation heading towards a global economic abyss. Trump, once again, took to social media to announce the ceasefire, and Iran's Foreign Minister, Syed Abbas Araghchi, also released a statement, in broad acceptance of the two-week timeline, but with more leverage than the White House in play.

As the global economy, markets, and oil and gas supply chains took a sigh of relief, staring at the brink of an international energy crisis, the Middle East geopolitically is........

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