Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tagged posts

JERUSALEM — As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed back in Israel this week after his fateful visit to Washington and days of newspaper headlines about the prospects of a military confrontation with Iran, the Israelis were gearing up for a party. It was the eve of Purim, the rowdy festival that Jews celebrate with costume balls and street carnivals, firecrackers and playful pranks. The holiday commemorates the Jews’ deliverance from a biblical plot by Haman, the grand vizier of the ancient Persian Empire, to have them all wiped out. A rabbinic tradition recommends inebriation until revelers can no longer tell the good guys from the bad.

Given the gravity of the talks with the Obama administration and the increasingly urgent warnings from Washington about the potentiall...