Here, Iran’s ‘imperial’ ambitions are seen to be overlaid by Russia’s reinvigorated rivalry with the US. Silvan Sahalom, a former foreign minister and now an opposition member of the Knesset, says, “Russia is trying to revive the Russian empire.” He worries it may see America’s enemy as its friend.

Olmert’s itinerary is seen to be a decisive leap out of what the liberal Haaretz newspaper called a walk between the raindrops. The big debate here is whether Jerusalem should tactically present the Iranian programme as the world’s problem — and thereby utter its fears for itself softly — or whether it should take a more strident lead in mobilising global action.

In the Israeli calendar, the Annapolis summit would be followed — in mid-2008 — by alarm bells. That is when, they say, their worst-case scenario would put Iran a year away from mastering the technology for a nuclear weapon programme. The stakeholders in the first engagement are among those being requested to commit to stronger deterrent measures — non-military, they say, for now — against Iran.

This is why, here in Israel, they say a failed ‘peace summit’ could take a toll beyond the individual fortunes of the two main participants.