New Delhi, April 22 -- IN THE RUN-UP to Israel's independence day, the motorway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv is always festooned with flags. But this year, between the blue-and-white Israeli pennants hangs a another kind of star-spangled banner: that of America. Israel's government had hoped that Donald Trump, the American president, would arrive on April 22nd to celebrate the 78th anniversary of its independence. He was to be the first non-Israeli to receive the Israel prize, a state honour.

Mr Trump, however, will be a no-show. Instead of a presidential visit, on April 16th Israel received orders from America's president to stop bombing Lebanon (the ceasefire was also imposed on Hizbullah, an Iran-backed militia which began the war o...