Indian diplomacy will be seriously tested by the Iran-Israel conflict

With its allies weakened due to leadership and personnel losses Iran could not but retaliate to ensure its influence persisted

- K C SINGH

The Iran-Israel confrontation has now entered a dangerous new phase of direct clash. Until now Iran contained Israeli influence via surrogates and militias in Israeli neighborhoods. In Lebanon Hezbollah was born in 1982 after Israel's invasions of that country in 1978 and then 1982. Hamas came into prominence in Gaza after winning the 2006 election.

Israel used an ascendant Hamas to counter the Palestinian National Authority's power and influence, which the latter drew from the 1993 Oslo Accords. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, after emerging dominant in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election. Coincidentally these developments mirror the rise of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held office in the past during 1996-99 and 2009-21. His current term commenced in 2022 and has been the most disruptive for Israel due to his alliance with extreme rightwing parties, which are bigoted and blatantly anti-Arab.

Netanyahu has survived politically, despite serious corruption charges, projecting himself as the nation's defender against threat from Iran and its surrogates. US presidents have rarely managed to constrict his anti-Palestinian instincts as he is a master at manipulating partisanship in US Congress. His addresses to the US houses of Congress have not always been with the consent of the US administration. The recent address, not attended by half the Democrats and the vice president Kamala Harris, fell in the same category.