Much as university presidents seem to prefer symbolic over substantive actions against anti-Semitism, Israel’s critics (outside of Iran) seem equally—and blessedly—enamored with symbolism. Douglas Murray examines what’s been happening in Britain, where, thanks to a constitutional reform known as devolution, the Welsh and Scottish parliaments can join Westminster in fretting about Israel, even if no war in history has ever come to an end due to calls for a ceasefire:

Last October, before Israeli ground operations in Gaza had fully begun, the Welsh Senedd took a vote on the war. You may ask yourself what the Welsh parliament has to do with any war in the Middle East. And you would be right to ask such a question. But it seems that it is a question members of the Welsh Senedd did not think to ask.

On that occasion, more than a third of the members of the Welsh Senedd called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Yet here is the thing. In no world that ever has existed or ever will exist could such a vote mean anything. To the best of my knowledge, the leadership of Hamas do not take instructions from the Welsh Senedd. At no point since this war began on October 7 last year will Yahya Sinwar have asked his guards in the tunnels under Gaza whether their campaign of terror is approved of or disapproved of by members of the Welsh Senedd.

The other thing that really gets [England’s] MPs to feel like they are significant is . . . when they get into things like “demanding” an end to hostilities in the Middle East. [Here is Foreign Secretary] David Lammy standing up in the Commons . . . and declaring a partial weapons embargo on Israel in the hope that it will affect the outcome of the war. Britain does not have a thriving defense industry, so we ought to be careful about how much of this our government gets up to.

I wonder if Lammy actually imagines he is a pivotal figure in this conflict? Does he believe himself to be an expert on warfare in densely populated civilian areas? Or, if pressed, would he explain that war is a bad thing and that what people need to do is seek peace? I suspect so. What delusions some of our politicians dwell in.

Steve Witkoff, the American special envoy leading negotiations with the Islamic Republic, has sent mixed signals about his intentions, some of them recently contradicted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Michael Doran looks at the progress of the talks so far, and explains why he fears that they could result in an even worse version of the 2015 deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA):

This new deal will preserve Iran’s latent nuclear weapons capabilities—centrifuges, scientific expertise, and unmonitored sites—that will facilitate a simple reconstitution in the future. These capabilities are far more potent today than they were in 2015, with Iran’s advances making them easier to reactivate, a significant step back from the JCPOA’s constraints.

In return, President Trump would offer sanctions relief, delivering countless billions of dollars to Iranian coffers. Iran, in the meantime, will benefit from the permanent erasure of JCPOA snapback sanctions, set to expire in October 2025, reducing U.S. leverage further. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps will use the revenues to support its regional proxies, such as Hizballah, Hamas, and the Houthis, whom it will arm with missiles and drones that will not be restricted by the deal.

Worse still, Israel will not be able to take action to stop Iran from producing nuclear weapons:

A unilateral military strike . . . is unlikely without Trump’s backing, as Israel needs U.S. aircraft and missile defenses to counter Iran’s retaliation with drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles—a counterattack Israel cannot fend off alone.

By defanging Iran’s proxies and destroying its defenses, Israel stripped Tehran naked, creating a historic opportunity to end forever the threat of its nuclear weapons program. But Tehran’s weakness also convinced it to enter the kind of negotiations at which it excels. Israel’s battlefield victories, therefore, facilitated a deal that will place Iran’s nuclear program under an undeclared but very real American protective shield.