Israel’s killing of Hezbollah’s longtime leader has driven home how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set the agenda in the Middle East in recent months, with a frustrated Biden White House unable to shape events or defuse a spreading conflict in the region.

Officials in the Biden administration felt blindsided by the Israeli air strikes Friday in southern Beirut that killed Hassan Nasrallah, and other senior Hezbollah figures, current and former officials say. 

In the days…