As dust settles on Iran, Israel focuses on diplomacy with Mideast neighbors

After unprecedented attacks on Iran, the U.S. and Israel have shifted toward an ambitious diplomatic push in the Middle East.

TEL AVIV — As the dust settles on Iran after unprecedented Israeli and American attacks, the U.S. and Israel have shifted their focus toward an ambitious diplomatic push they hope will translate into the kind of enduring political stability that has evaded the region for decades.

Despite apparent Iranian unwillingness, President Donald Trump is pushing for more talks with Tehran about its nuclear program. But Israel appears more interested in formalizing diplomatic relations with some of its long-standing adversaries, as well as ending the 18-month conflict in Gaza — which Trump has repeatedly pleaded for.

“This victory presents an opportunity for a dramatic widening of peace agreements,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Thursday. “We are working on this with enthusiasm.”

The previous Trump administration brokered what it called the Abraham Accords, in which Israel established diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and later normalized its relations with Morocco in 2024 and Sudan, though that deal has yet to be ratified.

Having devastated the powerful, Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, its northern neighbor, and seen a Tehran-friendly regime toppled in Syria to the east, Israel is now interested in establishing formal diplomatic relations with both countries, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Monday