When Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was last in Washington, he had reason to smile. Sitting alongside President Donald Trump at the White House, the Israeli leader smirked as his American counterpart stunned onlookers with his quixotic plans to take over the devastated Gaza Strip and transform it into a luxury tourist destination.

The short-term gain that Netanyahu thought Israel had been prized with after Trump’s victory and a respite from the sometimes adversary relationship with the Biden administration, has vanished.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is used to weathering storms over almost three decades in and out of power — and is starting to flex his muscles again after a recent run of adversity.