The attack prompted Mr. Netanyahu to announce he was cutting short his trip to return home after his meeting to oversee Israel’s military response. He had been scheduled to have dinner with Mr. Trump on Tuesday and to address a pro-Israeli lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or Aipac. Mr. Netanyahu stayed in Washington until Monday evening, as Israeli forces began striking Hamas targets in Gaza.

“Israel is responding forcefully to this wanton aggression,” he said. “We will do whatever we must do to defend our people and defend our state.”

Mr. Netanyahu spoke of the vital role that the Golan Heights had played in Israel’s defense. He recalled that his brother was among the soldiers who scaled its rocky slopes during the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. Later on, Mr. Netanyahu himself, as a young officer, led a covert unit from Syria into the Golan Heights in the midst of a snowstorm.

“We hold the high ground, and we shall never give it up,” he said.

Though Israel effectively annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, Mr. Netanyahu said it had to wait half a century for Mr. Trump “to translate our military victory into a diplomatic victory.”

Mr. Trump’s decision continued to ripple throughout the region. Al-Marsad, which defends the rights of native Syrians in the Golan Heights, said the decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty could provoke violence in a territory that has been remarkably tranquil.

“The decision sets a dangerous standard that glorifies systematic human rights abuses, legitimizes illegal aggression and occupation, and endangers peace in the Middle East,” the group said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia also warned, in a statement released by its official press agency on Tuesday, that Mr. Trump’s decision would have “significant negative effects” on security and the peace process in the Middle East.