Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s attempts to hold a telephone conversation with President Joe Biden ahead of an emerging nuclear deal with Iran have been rebuffed, with the excuse that the American president is on vacation, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.

The National Security Council has been scrambling in recent days to arrange a call between the two leaders as part of Israel’s last ditch effort to stop the Iran deal from being signed, Israel’s Channel 13 News reported.

U.S. officials, however, denied the request, telling Lapid that Biden “is on vacation,” according to the repor...