The NYT breathlessly promised us an inside story we had never heard before, but relatively little of it was really new. We learned that Obama was negotiating with the Iranians behind the backs of the Israelis, but he certainly had his reasons. The rest of it was pretty familiar.
The question that remains is whether Netanyahu was truly prepared to go to war with Iran on his own, or whether the whole thing was a bluff to get the Americans to do his dirty work. Given the divisions within Israel’s security establishment, and Bibi’s general unwillingness to use massive force against Iran’s proxies, I think the more plausible answer is that he was bluffing. The truth is, however, that only he knows for sure.