diplomat

The telephone calls and ������sApp messages continue apace this weekend between leaders, foreign ministers and diplomats, with the expectation that there are many more days to come in this conflict between Israel and Iran.

Last night, US diplomats reacted coolly to the first reports of the Israeli strikes.

"He doesn't like to get into the detail," one Arab diplomat told me, underlining the president's preference for quick easy deals in what are deeply complex conflicts.

Later this month at the United Nations in New York, French and Saudi diplomats will host a conference aimed at laying out a roadmap for an eventual Palestinian state.

But the ministry's figures are used by the UN, foreign diplomats and even, according to reports in Israel, the country's own intelligence services.