Reports are these two never liked each other but reports are the relationship has deteriorated to critical levels cite. I know when Obama entered office, the two had built-in friction from him wanting Israel to scale back the settlements and Netanyahu, not only refusing, but expediting them. Then it’s public knowledge that Obama thought Netanyahu was heavy-handed in dealing with the LATEST skirmish in Gaza. However, I think the dynamic of their relationship is more personal than policy.
I wanted to see what anyone else’s opinion of what’s going on with these two.
Note: I’m ONLY raising the very specific question of the Obama/Netanyahu relationship. I’m NOT trying to invite the usual pro/anti Israel debate NOR the pro/anti Obama debate.
Netanyahu’s sole focus seems to be taking care of Iran’s nuclear program. While the US seemed to be onboard with this program in 2011-2012, now there are more important fires to put out and Obama has his hands full. Netanyahu can’t seem to get his mind around that and instead of waiting patiently for Iran to screwup and the US to again be ready to go after it, he decided to try and embarrass the President and found out that didn’t help his cause.
Since Netanyahu needs the US more than it needs him, his current attitude seems to be more shortsighted hubris than measured and calculated political thinking.
I’m not sure the President really has a good relationship with any foreign leaders. He’s a pretty aloof guy. I think the policy differences between he and Netanyahu make things worse between them, but he just doesn’t seem to really get along all that well with any foreign leader. On the other hand, he doesn’t have any exceptionally bad relationships either other than with Bibi.