Netanyahu avoided peace summit because he thinks he has all the time in the world

Seeking to broaden his tiny coalition, which has relied on a wafer-thin majority with only 61 MKs, Mr Netanyahu engaged in a series of meetings with Labour Leader Isaac Herzog.

Then, all of a sudden, with the two parties on the verge of signing a coalition agreement, Mr Netanyahu made a swift retreat and signed a deal with Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu.

Now it has emerged that Mr Herzog agreed to enter negotiations with the prime minister after being appraised of the Aqaba summit, at which the participants had discussed two possible frameworks for renewing negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, frozen since early 2014, under the auspices of Egypt and Jordan and perhaps additional Arab states such as the Saudis.

Over the phone, Mr Kerry, King Abdullah and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi all convinced him of the seriousness of the talks.

The deal with Mr Netanyahu would have seen Mr Herzog become Israel's foreign minister and lead the negotiations, which were to be launched in an regional conference.

Before finalising the deal, Mr Netanyahu involved some of his Likud ministers, who swiftly convinced him that the majority of the party would be opposed to such a deal and that he risked losing right-wing voters in the next election.

Why did the attempt to relaunch the diplomatic process and form a more centrist coalition really fail? There is no clear answer. Mr Netanyahu's political vulnerability to his right-wingers could be one explanation. Another is that he was never serious to begin with.

In the second edition of his book – ‘A Place Among the Nations’, published in 2001, Mr Netanyahu wrote that contrary to the received belief in the international community "time is working to our benefit. Ultimately, and probably in our lifetimes, the Middle East will join the global process of democratisation. It will not happen tomorrow, and perhaps not in the next decade." But until it happens, he wrote, Israel has to persevere and not grant any territorial concessions to the Palestinians who refuse to recognise Israel as a Jewish state.

Sixteen years and one Arab Spring later, the Middle East still awaits democracy and Mr Netanyahu still believes time is working in Israel's favour. In the meantime, he has had to fend off international pressure while reining in his coalition partners' more ambitious settlement plans.

A month since Mr Obama departed the White House, with a new and unpredictable president installed, does Mr Netanyahu still have to continue his delicate high-wire dance between Washington and Jerusalem?

The mixed and incoherent messages coming from the Trump administration give no clear indication what position he intends to take on the Israel-Palestine conflict, if at all. But Mr Netanyahu seems to be interested in the status quo, warning his ministers this week that new settlements will have to remain on hold, as he focuses on enlisting the administration's support for a new diplomatic offensive against Iran. As far as the Palestinians are concerned, he still believes he has all the time in the world.