Critics feared it would plunge the Middle East into a wider war. That doomsday scenario has not come to pass, at least for now: Iran made only symbolic retaliation against America; soon after, a ceasefire ended the fighting between Iran and Israel.

Israel’s military success against Iran undermines one incentive for Saudi normalization and raises concerns about its growing power.

Netanyahu floats reviving normalisation with the kingdom but Riyadh views state as an increasingly destabilising force