The messy relationship between Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama began, appropriately enough, in a janitor’s office at Reagan National Airport in March 2007. U.S. and Israeli diplomats have been cleaning up ever since, as the two men have left a path littered with personal slights and policy differences.
But their confrontation over Netanyahu’s politically tinged speech to Congress Tuesday could end up being their messiest yet, affecting the outcome of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, the upcoming election in Israel and the future of the Middle East.
Bibi and Barack’s hastily arranged first meeting was, in fact, cordial and respectful, according to those who were there. Obama was returning to Washington from the primary campaign trail. Netanyahu was headed back to Israel where he was the opposition leader in the Knesset. Both knew they might soon be in power, and both recognized it would be work to reconcile their differences.
Born Under Fire: Rare Photos From the Birth of Israel
Caption from LIFE. Proclamation of Nationhood is read by Israel's Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. Around him are members of the provisional government, including Foreign Minister Moshe Shertok (third from right). Labor Minister Moshe Ben Tov (extreme right) wears sport shirt. Portrait above is of Theodor Herzl, Zionism's founderFrank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesTwo men peer out of a hole in a bombed building, shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, May 1948.Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesPeople run away from the waterfront during an air raid shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, exact location unknown, May 1948.Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAn Israeli soldier, on guard shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, exact location unknown, May 1948.Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesIsraeli soldiers, seen shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, exact location unknown, May 1948.Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. After an Arab air raid, bodies of dead Jews lie in the rubble along the Tel Aviv waterfront.Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Haganah [Jewish paramilitary] soldier examines souvenir from Egyptian Spitfire shot down by Jews on Tel Aviv beach.Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesSoldiers walk down a ruined street, shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, exact location unknown, May 1948.Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Armed forces of new state are built on Haganah militia. Members are shown here riding trucks down Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway to go into action near Bab el Wad.Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesIsraeli wounded being cared for in forward first aid station, shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, exact location unknown, May 1948.Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesMen watch as an Israeli military vehicle passes by, shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, exact location unknown, May 1948.Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesIsraeli men photographed shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, exact location unknown, May 1948.Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesBurned-out buses seen shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, exact location unknown, May 1948.Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesStreet scene, shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, exact location unknown, May 1948.Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesA young woman looks out a battered window shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, exact location unknown, May 1948.Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesHappily displaying the Israeli flag shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, exact location unknown, May 1948.Frank Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
For starters, they came from very different backgrounds. As TIME wrote in 2010, Netanyahu’s father, Benzion, was among the intellectual leaders of what is known as revisionist Zionism while his older brother became a national hero after leading, and dying in, the 1976 raid on Entebbe.
Obama for his part is the Christian son of an atheist father who had been raised a Muslim. The future president spent formative childhood years in a Jakarta house that had no refrigerator and no flushing toilet, and he still bears on his arm a scar from a playing-field cut perfunctorily stitched up in a Jakarta hospital.
But the real challenge the two have faced is their different policies in the Middle East. Obama came to office reaching out to Iran and pushing for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Netanyahu opposed warming ties with the militantly anti-Israel theocrats in Tehran and refused in early meetings with Obama publicly to embrace the possibility of a Palestinian state.
The two men have endeavored to put a positive face on their differences, and at times it wasn’t hard since they and their countries often had common interests. The two countries have collaborated on anti-Iran measures, and senior officials say the security relationship between the two countries has never been closer.
But as often as not, the combination of personal and policy differences, fueled by distrustful staffers, gave way to friction between the two men. There was the time Israel announced a massive expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem just as Vice President Joe Biden arrived there for talks—a traditional Israeli greeting for peace-process pushing U.S. diplomats that dates back at least to Secretary of State James Baker. Then there was “the Snub” —Obama’s 2010 decision to leave Netanyahu negotiating with aides in the West Wing while he went for dinner with his family.
The outcome of their latest confrontation remains to be seen. Netanyahu faces a tough election this month and the White House’s increasingly public criticism may well show their desire for a change in leadership. Netanyahu’s effort to encourage anti-Obama members of Congress to push new sanctions could help scupper the already tenuous U.S.-Iranian talks.
But even if nothing much comes of their latest confrontation, few imagine the men will ever be inclined to patch up their differences. As Netanyahu’s sometime political nemesis Avram Burg told TIME in 2010, the two men may simply be irreconcilable. “You cannot stitch together the world visions of Obama and Netanyahu,” Burg said. “This is a clash of the psychological infrastructure.”
Pope Francis, addressed a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress with with Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House John Boehner in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Sept. 24, 2015, urging legislators to work together to solve problems and avoid polarizationJim Lo Scalzo—EPABenjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister, addressed Congress on March 3, 2015, urging a stop to the Iran nuclear talks. His policy positions are often controversial, but he enjoys a privileged position when it comes to visiting the legislature, this was his third visit to Congress.Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty ImagesYitzhak Rabin, Israeli Prime Minister, and King Hussein of Jordan shake hands following a joint address to Congress on July 26, 1994. In the second of two Arab-Israeli appearances, Jordan's leader appeared with Israel's prime minister to celebrate their peace treaty. The treaty, signed the next month, ended a 46-year state of war.David Rubinger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesNelson Mandela addresses Congress on June 26, 1990. At the time, he was president of the African National Congress. Apartheid was still law in South Africa and Mandela had only just been released from prison a few months before his appearance before lawmakers.Kevin Larkin—AFP/Getty ImagesBenazir Bhutto, prime minister of Pakistan, addresses Congress on June 7, 1989. She was the first woman elected to lead an Islamic state, and she remains Pakistan's only woman prime minister to date. After serving two non-consecutive terms, she was exiled to Dubai in 1999. She returned to Pakistan in 2007 to run for the office again, and was assassinated.J.Scott—APMargaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister, addressed Congress on Feb. 20, 1985. She was the first female head of state to do so who was not a monarch.Bob Daugherty—APEgyptian President Anwar Sadat, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin respond to applause in the chambers of the U.S. House of Representatives during a joint session of Congress on Sept. 18, 1978. A day earlier, the leaders had signed the historic Camp David accords, which ended 30 years of war and led to a peace treaty between the two nations in 1979.APMohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, addressed Congress on April 12, 1962. He was deposed in 1979. No Iranian leader has addressed a joint session since.Aziz Rashki—AP
![Haganah [Jewish paramilitary] soldier examines souvenir from Egyptian Spitfire shot down by Jews on Tel Aviv beach.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/150225-israel-08.jpg?quality=75&w=2400 "00687041.JPG")
