Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a news conference, in Jerusalem, Monday June 15, 2026. (Ronen Zvulun, Pool Photo via AP) On this date 85 years ago, Hitler broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and invaded the Soviet Union. One wonders if the same outcome will follow the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran.
But there is one slim, indeed microscopic, chance of this working. Whether by blind luck or brilliant and cunning thinking on the part of President Donald Trump, there could be a way of bringing peace to the Middle East and Persian Gulf. That requires dumping Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and replacing him with a moderate successor such as Yitzhak Rabin who made peace with Egypt and Anwar Sadat after the 1973 war.
Trump has already prepared the political battlefield. He has told Netanyahu that he’s the one calling “all the shots” and boasted as to how he tongue-lashed the prime minister, calling him “crazy.”
The question of whether this public verbal abuse — which has not been well received by some Israelis — will force Netanyahu’s removal remains to be seen. If not, then as long as he stays, a genuine and lasting peace will never be achieved. At every step, Netanyahu has been out to destroy Iran and prevent any negotiation from being fulfilled.
The start of Netanyahu’s scorched earth Iran policy began in early January. It appears that Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, began inducing protests in Iran to generate the reasons for an attack. In mid-January, Netanyahu flew to Washington to convince Trump of the need for a pre-emptive attack to decapitate Iran’s leadership and achieve regime change. His director of Mossad, David Barnea, was online from Israel to help make that case.
Fresh from the near perfect seizureof Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro in early January, it did not take much to convince Trump to launch Epic Fury. On Feb. 28, the attack began. The Iranian leadership was literally and figuratively blown away. And Trump began declaring victory, noting that the war would soon be over.
It was not. While the administration has been rightly criticized for not anticipating Iran’s closing the Strait of Hormuz and attacking its neighbors, if it concluded that the war would end quickly, it assumed that neither would be a problem.
The war did not end quickly. And if the leaked MOU is indeed accurate, it is not apparent who the winner and loser were. To many, Iran came out ahead. Of course, Trump’s MAGA supporters will most likely accept anything that the president says as gospel over Iran, even though some now are disillusioned over the Epstein files.
Where are we headed with ending the war? On the current track, assuming Netanyahu remains in power, a ceasefire and negotiations will continue for a long time — at least through the November midterm election. Perceptions of affordability following the strait’s closure are damaging and possibly ending the Republicans’ chances of winning the both the House and Senate, so keeping it open is a political necessity for Trump.
What happens post-November is the key question. Trump is cynical and practical enough to appreciate that his power may grow through executive orders if the Republicans lose one or both chambers. Indeed, losing both would give him the opportunity to be even more critical of Democrats, and blame them for every setback.
But if Trump is serious about his legacy and being a true peacemaker, his solution is turning the Israelis against Netanyahu and urging them to elect a prime minister committed to peace. If that happens, extending the Abraham Accords is possible. And once Saudi Arabia and Israel make a demonstrative peace, then an accord with Iran is possible, provided Israel adopts more sensible policies on Gaza, Hamas and Hezbollah.
In those cases, Iran could help. But will it? At this stage no one knows. Yet, however unlikely, this is the only approach that could bring an enduring peace to the region.
Despite Trump’s claim to have brought resolution to a range of conflicts, for which he deserved multiple Nobel Peace prizes, if he could pull this off, he would be a true hero deserving far more than a single prize.
But as we wonder if Israel and Iran can or will act, the same questions apply to Trump.
Harlan Ullman (X: @harlankullman) is senior adviser at Washington’s Atlantic Council, chairman of a private company, and principal author of the doctrine of shock and awe. His next book, co-written with former United Kingdom defense chief, Field Marshal The Lord David Richards, and due out this Fall, is “Who Thinks Best Wins: How Decisive Strategic Thinking Will Prevent Global Chaos”.
Add as preferred source on Google Tags Abraham Accords Anwar Sadat Benjamin Netanyahu Donald Trump Donald Trump Epstein files Hitler Iran Israel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu MAGA base Middle East peace Middle East policy midterm election Nicaragua Nicolas Maduro Nicolas Maduro Nicolas Maduro captue President Donald Trump Saddam Hussein saudi arabia Strait of Hormuz strait of hormuz closure Strait of Hormuz reopening US-Iran deal US-Israel relations Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak RabinCopyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Comments: Link copiedMore Opinions - International News
See All
Opinions - International Trump may be triggering a new Cuban migration crisis by Andrés Sánchez, opinion contributor 1 day ago Opinions - International / 1 day ago 
