Why Netanyahu will miss Obama

Perhaps the most important — and counterintuitive — area where Mr. Netanyahu may come to miss Mr. Obama is the Iran nuclear deal. I have no doubt that Mr. Netanyahu’s opposition to the deal was sincere. But it is also true that the accord had real advantages for him. By vigorously opposing the deal, he was able to strengthen the negotiating position of the American administration and its partners and present himself to the Israeli public as the candidate of toughness and strength — while at the same time reaping the benefits of an agreement that his top military advisers acknowledge has effectively halted Iran’s nuclear program and most likely staved off a military conflict.

With Mr. Trump, Mr. Netanyahu now has an American partner who agrees with him that the deal is “disastrous” and threatens to blow it up. But if they kill an agreement the rest of the world believes is working, the United States and Israel will be blamed and isolated, other countries will refuse to reimpose the international sanctions that were necessary to secure the deal, and Iran will kick out inspectors and resume its frozen nuclear program. It would be supremely ironic, but not entirely surprising, if Mr. Trump started to take steps that recklessly threatened the nuclear deal, and Mr. Netanyahu ended up quietly urging him to keep it in place.