Mr Trump also bears personal grudges. During the four years he spent out of office, he fumed at Mr Netanyahu for congratulating Joe Biden on his 2020 election victory and at the Israeli prime minister’s reluctance to join America in the assassination of Qassem Suleimani, an Iranian general in charge of the Islamic republic’s foreign operations.

President Trump said that the United States should take over Gaza and forcibly relocate two million Palestinians. Leaders in Gaza and Arab nations immediately rejected the idea.