Obama and Netanyahu: A clash of world views, not just personalities

The disconnect between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is about a lot more than bad personal chemistry.

Their relationship, which will be played out in all its dysfunctional glory during Netanyahu’s visit to Washington this week, founders on a deep ideological divide and a sharply conflicting world view.

A long, steadily worsening showdown between the rivals is coming to a head in the tense final stages of talks between world powers and Iran in pursuit of a nuclear deal backed by the U.S. but opposed by Netanyahu.

Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on October 27.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu, right, sits with a friend at the entrance to his family home in Jerusalem on July 1, 1967. The Israeli prime minister was born October 21, 1949.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu, right, with a friend in the Judean Desert on May 1, 1968.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu serves in the Sayeret Matkal, an elite commando unit of the Israeli army, in 1971. He spent five years in the unit.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu shakes hands with Israeli President Zalman Shazar during a November 1972 ceremony honoring the Sayeret Matkal soldiers who freed hostages in a hijacking earlier that year.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu and his first wife, Miriam, in June 1980.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu and his daughter, Noa, in June 1980.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu speaks in July 1986 with Sorin Hershko, one of the Israeli soldiers wounded in Operation Entebbe. It was the 10th anniversary of Operation Entebbe, a dramatic rescue of Jewish hostages at Uganda's Entebbe Airport. Netanyahu's brother, Yonatan, was killed leading Operation Entebbe in 1976. Affected by his brother's death, Netanyahu organized two international conferences on ways to combat terrorism, one in 1979 and another in 1984.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

From 1984 to 1988, Netanyahu was Israel's ambassador to the United Nations.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu talks to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir on a stroll in New York's Central Park in November 1987.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu, as Israel's deputy foreign minister, goes through some papers as Government Secretary Elyakim Rubinstein recites morning prayers on a flight from New York to Washington in April 1989.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Shamir speaks with Netanyahu at a Middle East peace conference in Madrid in October 1991.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu celebrates after being elected chairman of the right-wing Likud party on March 21, 1993.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu and former foreign minister David Levy sit in the Knesset during the vote for a new Israeli President on March 24, 1993.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu meets with King Hussein of Jordan, center, and Crown Prince Hassan in December 1994. It was Netanyahu's first visit to Jordan.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu shakes hands with outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres before taking the office himself in June 1996.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu meets with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for the first time on September 4, 1996, at an Israeli army base at the Erez Checkpoint in Gaza.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu meets with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Washington in February 1997.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu spends the day on the beach with his wife, Sara, and son Avner in Caesarea, Israel, on August 16, 1997.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Actor Kirk Douglas holds the King David Award, presented to him by the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah during a dinner in Beverly Hills, California, on November 17, 1997. Douglas was honored for his inspirational commitment to Israel and the Jewish people and in recognition of his new book "Climbing the Mountain." Netanyahu is on the left. To the right is Rabbi Nachum Braverman, director of the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu looks through binoculars during a tour of the West Bank with the Israeli Cabinet on December 28, 1997.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan meet in Annan's office in New York on May 15, 1998.

Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

From left, Arafat, King Hussein, US President Bill Clinton and Netanyahu sign an interim Middle East peace agreement in October 1998.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu thanks a crowd of supporters in Tel Aviv, Israel, at a Likud party meeting in May 1999. The outgoing Prime Minister announced that he was quitting the Knesset and stepping down as party leader 10 days after being defeated in elections.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu testifies before the US House Government Reform Committee on September 20, 2001. The committee was conducting hearings on terrorism following the September 11 attacks.

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Netanyahu, as Israel's foreign minister, laughs with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the start of a Likud convention in Tel Aviv on November 12, 2002.

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Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are seen at a polling station in Jerusalem on August 14, 2007. He was re-elected as head of the Likud party.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu shakes hands with Israeli President Shimon Peres in February 2009 after Netanyahu won backing from the Israeli parliament to become Prime Minister again. A close election between Netanyahu and rival Tzipi Livni had left the results unclear until the parliament's decision.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

From left, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Netanyahu, US President Barack Obama, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II walk to the East Room of the White House to make statements on the Middle East peace process on September 1, 2010.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Obama meets with Netanyahu at the White House in September 2010.

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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton looks on as Abbas and Netanyahu shake hands in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on September 14, 2010, during a second round of Middle East peace talks.

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British Prime Minister David Cameron welcomes Netanyahu to 10 Downing Street in London on May 4, 2011.

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Netanyahu address a joint session of the US Congress on May 24, 2011. He said that he was prepared to make "painful compromises" for a peace settlement with the Palestinians, but he repeated that Israel will not accept a return to its pre-1967 boundaries.

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Netanyahu uses a diagram of a bomb to describe Iran's nuclear program while delivering an address to the UN General Assembly on September 27, 2012. Netanyahu exhorted the General Assembly to draw "a clear red line" to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

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Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman of the Likud-Beiteinu coalition party greet supporters as they arrive onstage on election night in January 2013. The Likud-Beiteinu won 31 seats in the Knesset.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu speaks at the UN General Assembly on October 1, 2013. He accused Iranian President Hassan Rouhani of seeking to obtain a nuclear weapon and described him as "a wolf in sheep's clothing, a wolf who thinks he can pull the wool over the eyes of the international community."

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In December 2014, Netanyahu called for early elections as he fired two key ministers for opposing government policy.

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Photos: Netanyahu's life in pictures

Netanyahu is greeted by members of US Congress as he arrives to speak in the House chamber in March 2015. He warned that a proposed agreement between world powers and Iran was "a bad deal" that would not stop Tehran from getting nuclear weapons — but would rather pave its way to getting lots of them and leave the Jewish State in grave peril.

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Netanyahu and his family take a vacation in southern Israel in April 2015.

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Netanyahu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel talk in Berlin in October 2015.

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Netanyahu speaks to the press in Tel Aviv, Israel, in June 2016. A day earlier, two attackers identified as Palestinians opened fire at a popular food and shopping complex near the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, killing four Israelis and sending other patrons scrambling to safety.

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Netanyahu stands next to US President Barack Obama as they attend the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres in September 2016.

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Netanyahu visits Moriah College in Sydney in February 2017. It was the first time an Israeli prime minister had visited Australia.

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Netanyahu speaks to US President Donald Trump in May 2017. Trump visited Israel and the West Bank during his first foreign trip as President.

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Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, pose for a photo at the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, in January 2018.

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Netanyahu, speaking at a security conference in Germany in February 2018, holds up what he claimed is a piece of an Iranian drone that was shot down after it flew over Israeli territory.

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Netanyahu, giving a speech at the Ministry of Defense in April 2018, accused Iran of "brazenly lying" over its nuclear ambitions. He said Israel had uncovered files that prove his allegation and that the Islamic republic is keeping an "atomic archive" at a secret compound. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called Netanyahu's comments "childish" and "laughable."

PHOTO: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS/Newscom

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From left, Netanyahu sits beside senior White House adviser Jared Kushner; President Trump's daughter, Ivanka; Israeli President Reuven Rivlin; and US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin during the opening of the new US Embassy in Jerusalem in May 2018.

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Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, pose for a photo with Russian President Vladimir Putin after talks in Moscow in February 2019.

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The Netanyahus cast their votes during Israel's parliamentary elections in April 2019. The election was seen as a referendum on Netanyahu's long tenure as prime minister.

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Netanyahu greets supporters in April 2019.

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An election banner on a Jerusalem building shows Netanyahu shaking hands with US President Donald Trump. Trump remains incredibly popular in Israel — far more popular than he is in the United States.

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Netanyahu meets with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in London in September 2019.

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Netanyahu and Israeli Blue and White party chief Benny Gantz reach to shake hands during a state memorial ceremony for former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his wife Leah in Jerusalem on November 10. Exit polls for a repeat general election in September failed to give either of the political rivals a majority in the new parliament.

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READ: Will Netanyahu’s speech to Congress backfire?

Netanyahu’s visit is highly unusual. Not only will he not meet with Obama, but he is taking the most prominent stage outside the White House available to a foreign leader in Washington and directly campaigning against one of the president’s top second-term priorities – a nuclear deal with Iran. Netanyahu appears to have concluded that the proposed agreement is so bad that, in a highly unorthodox move, he will actively join Obama’s political adversaries in an effort to derail the president’s Iran deal-making.

Highly unusual

The Israeli leader will make the case against the proposed deal in an address to Congress on Tuesday, against the wishes of the White House, at the invitation of GOP House Speaker John Boehner.

The speech, likely to delight Republicans, who are also trying to thwart Obama’s Iran diplomacy, will be the starkest illustration yet of the estrangement between Netanyahu and Obama.

“Each one is convinced that the other one doesn’t get the other side’s core interests,” said David Makovsky, a former advisor on Secretary of State John Kerry’s Middle East team.

“Beyond all the grievances and the slights, that is the fundamental issue.”

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Frayed edges showing in U.S.- Israel relationship

Historic figures

Both Obama and Netanyahu see themselves as historic figures, elected at fateful moments in the lives of their nations.

Obama sees his mission as ending foreign land wars, putting the campaign against terrorism on a sustainable footing and honoring John F. Kennedy’s dictum that the United States should “never fear to negotiate” with its enemies.

Netanyahu believes he is “entrusted with the awesome responsibility of ensuring the future of the Jewish people and the future of the Jewish state” against an existential threat from Iran’s nuclear program.

In his more optimistic outlook, Obama, the first African-American president, puts his faith in the power of aspirational political movements and grass roots organizing. He ran for office arguing that recent approaches to foreign policy had not worked — hence his willingness to engage U.S. enemies.

But Netanyahu has a more hardened view of the world, forged by decades in Israel’s treacherous neighborhood, the threats Jews have faced throughout their history and his close ties with foreign policy hawks who believe that military strength and vigilance are the best ways to ensure security and peace.

“I do think that it is important to understand this is more than simply a little personality clash,” said Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a liberal pro-Israel advocacy group in Washington.

“It really is a fundamental disagreement over policy and it reflects the underlying world views that are held not just by the two men but by the two camps in each country,” Ben-Ami said.

Obama and Netanyahu have never been friends. And now their personal antipathy is beginning to infect national political ties, which are as bad as they have been for decades.

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Obama and Netanyahu did not set out to have a bad relationship, and there are plenty of instances where world leaders who did not like each other still worked well together. But this feud has certainly made it easier for both sides to question the other’s motives and to see deliberate slights even when none are intended.

Differing personality traits

Their differing personality traits almost guaranteed a collision. Obama has an author’s temperament. He doesn’t enjoy politics and seeks to avoid public confrontations. Netanyahu is blunt, a skilled wheeler-and-dealer and a bruiser in the tradition of Israel’s in-your-face politics. And one trait they share, a deep confidence in their own convictions, only increases their head-butting.

Have U.S.-Israel relations ever been this bad? Yes.

“I sometimes wonder if we have a situation where we have someone who is a law professor and is very cerebral and has this universal sense of how things are supposed to unfold under international law,” Makovsky said, referring to Obama.

“On the other side, you have someone who is convinced he lives in a region called the Middle East and believes that a lot of the categories that they teach in law school are not always applicable in this neighborhood.”

Their disconnect has played out in testy photo ops, and even in an over-the-top stroll, with jackets slung over their shoulders, on the baking runway of Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv in 2010, in an apparent bid to scotch reports that the leaders were at odds.

But events soon belied the encounter. Obama was caught in 2011 on an open mic complaining to then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy about Netanyahu after Sarkozy branded the Israeli leader a “liar.” Last year, an anonymous quote attributed to a senior White House official calling Netanyahu a “chicken sh**t” caused a storm.

Administration officials, meanwhile, were furious over what they saw as several patronizing lectures on Jewish history and the threat from Iran that Netanyahu delivered before the cameras to Obama in the Oval Office.

And Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, just before the Israeli election on March 17, is seen by critics in the administration and elsewhere as at least in part another attempt to play politics, following what the White House perceived as his open backing of Mitt Romney during Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012.

The administration also largely blames Netanyahu for blowing up its two thwarted efforts to make peace between Israel and the Palestinians. They see him as having appeased right-wing elements in his fragmented coalition by endorsing settlement building on lands Palestinians envision as part of their future state at the expense of talks between the two sides.

Iran

But the most consequential dispute between Obama and Netanyahu is on Iran.

Both men have placed the Islamic Republic at the center of their political projects and understand that they can only achieve the legacy they seek by outmaneuvering the other.

“I don’t want to be coy. The prime minister and I have a very real difference around Iran,” Obama said earlier this month.

Netanyahu weighed in on Saturday before leaving for the United States. “I respect U.S. President Barack Obama,” he said, but warned that he had an obligation to make clear his fears about Tehran’s nuclear program.

Obama has tried to coax Iran out of decades of hostility towards the United States, which it sees as the “great Satan,” and has made historic gestures by speaking to President Hassan Rouhani on the phone and carrying out a correspondence with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

But Netanyahu has repeatedly warned that Rouhani is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and sought to bring attention to what Israel considers deceptions by Tehran over its nuclear program and violations of international restrictions on its activities.

Details of a proposed nuclear deal with Iran ahead of a deadline for a framework agreement next month have widened the divides.

Moshe Arens, a former Israeli defense minister, said that while Netanyahu is convinced that the proposed deal is dangerous, Obama doesn’t agree: “He thinks it is the best he can get at the moment. My impression is that he doesn’t want to get into a confrontation with Iran at the moment.”

The U.S. president has long warned that the kind of “perfect” deal that Netanyahu envisages – which would completely strip Tehran of centrifuges and nuclear infrastructure – is not realistic.

Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

U.S. President Barack Obama attends the Nuclear Security Summit in the Hague, Netherlands, in March 2014. As Obama's second term nears its close, here's a look at some key moments of his administration.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

First lady Michelle Obama brushes specks from the coat of then-Sen. Obama in Springfield, Illinois, just before he announced his candidacy for President in February 2007. Their daughters Malia, left, and Sasha wait in the foreground.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama appears on "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert, right, in Des Moines, Iowa, in November 2007.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama shakes hands with supporters after addressing a rally in Concord, New Hampshire, in January 2008.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama gives a speech at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia in March 2008.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama speaks at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama stands on stage in Chicago with his family after winning the presidential election on November 4, 2008.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama poses in the Oval Office with several former U.S. Presidents in January 2009. From left are George H. W. Bush, Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama is sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts as the 44th President of the United States on January 20, 2009.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

As retired military officers stand behind him, Obama signs an executive order to close down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 2009.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden look at solar panels as they tour the solar array at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on February 17, 2009. That same day, Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

A soldier hugs Obama during his surprise visit to Camp Victory just outside Baghdad, Iraq, in April 2009.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama bends over so the son of a White House staff member can pat his head during a visit to the Oval Office in May 2009. The boy wanted to know if Obama's hair felt like his.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama kisses Sonia Sotomayor's cheek after announcing her as his nominee for Supreme Court justice in May 2009.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Palestinian security forces in Jenin, West Bank, listen to Obama speak from Cairo University in Egypt in June 2009. The Palestinian Authority hailed as a "good beginning" Obama's speech to the Muslim world in which he reiterated his support for a Palestinian state.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama and the first lady meet with Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City in July 2009.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama hosts the Apollo 11 astronauts -- from left, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Michael Collins and Neil Armstrong -- in the Oval Office on July 20, 2009. It was the 40th anniversary of the moon landing.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Police Sgt. James Crowley, second right, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, speaks with Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., second left, alongside Obama and Biden as they share beers on the South Lawn of the White House in July 2009. The so-called Beer Summit was held after Crowley arrested Gates at his own home, which sparked tensions and racial furor.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama salutes during the transfer of Sgt. Dale R. Griffin at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, in October 2009. Obama traveled to the base to meet the plane carrying the bodies of 18 U.S. personnel killed in Afghanistan.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama walks along the Great Wall of China in November 2009.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama delivers a speech after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, in December 2009.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama and former Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush walk to the White House Rose Garden to speak about relief efforts for earthquake-stricken Haiti in January 2010.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

First daughters Sasha and Malia Obama play in the snow with their father after a snowstorm hit Washington in February 2010.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama's signature on the Affordable Care Act is seen at the White House in March 2010.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama throws out the opening pitch before a baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals in April 2010.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama and his daughter Sasha swim in Panama City Beach, Florida, in August 2010, to encourage people to come back to the Gulf Coast after a devastating oil spill.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama laughs as he makes a statement on his birth certificate in April 2011. Obama said he was amused over conspiracy theories about his birthplace, and he said the media's obsession with the "sideshow" issue was a distraction in a "serious time."

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama, Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of the national security team receive live updates on the mission to capture or kill Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

U.S. Marines watch from Afghanistan as Obama announces the death of bin Laden on May 2, 2011.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama enjoys a pint of Guinness in his ancestral home of Moneygall, Ireland, in May 2011.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama and the first lady meet with Britain's Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, at Buckingham Palace in May 2011.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon walk together in May 2011 during a tour of the tornado devastation in Joplin, Missouri.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama delivers remarks to troops and military families at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on December 14, 2011, marking the exit of U.S. soldiers from Iraq.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama pays for a dog toy as he shops with his dog Bo at a PetSmart in Alexandria, Virginia, in December 2011.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama sits on the famed Rosa Parks bus at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, in April 2012.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

British Prime Minister David Cameron, Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others watch the overtime shootout of the Champions League final between Chelsea and Bayern Munich in a conference room at Camp David, Maryland, during a G-8 Summit in May 2012.

PHOTO: Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images

Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama sits in his chair during a Cabinet meeting in July 2012. This image was tweeted by his official Twitter account in August 2012 in response to Clint Eastwood's "empty chair" speech at the Republican National Convention. The tweet simply said, "This seat's taken."

PHOTO: Pete Souza/White House

Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama casts a shadow in this picture as he accepts the 2012 Democratic nomination for President during the final day of the Democratic National Convention in September 2012.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney participate in the first presidential debate of the 2012 election.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama celebrates on stage in Chicago after defeating Romney on Election Day in 2012.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama pauses during his speech at a memorial service for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in December 2012.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Hundreds of thousands gather at the U.S. Capitol building as Obama is inaugurated for his second term on January 21, 2013.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Israeli President Shimon Peres, left, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, stand with Obama after Obama arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel, in March 2013.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama adjusts an umbrella held by a Marine during a White House news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May 2013.

PHOTO: Charles Dharapak/AP

Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Jay Leno interviews Obama on "The Tonight Show" in August 2013.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

White House press secretary Jay Carney fields questions from reporters during a daily press briefing at the White House in September 2013. Obama had just pushed for congressional approval for limited military strikes against the Syrian government.

PHOTO: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Actor and comedian Zach Galifianakis interviews Obama during his appearance on "Between Two Ferns," a digital video series with a laser focus on reaching people aged 18 to 34. The President urged young people to sign up for his new health care plan in the video posted on the website Funny or Die.

PHOTO: Funny Or Die/AP

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Obama walks to the Oval Office on August 7, 2014, the same day he announced the beginning of airstrikes on ISIS.

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Obama speaks to the nation about normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba in December 2014.

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From left, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Speaker John Boehner listen as Obama speaks during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 13, 2015.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama responds to a heckler who interrupted his speech during a White House reception for LGBT Pride Month in June 2015.

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Obama cries in January 2016 as he delivers a statement on his executive action to reduce gun violence.

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Cuban President Raul Castro tries to lift up Obama's arm at the end of a joint news conference in Havana, Cuba, in March 2016. Castro hailed Obama's opposition to a long-standing economic "blockade," but said it would need to end before ties between the two countries are fully normalized.

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Obama visits Prince William, Duchess Catherine and their son, Prince George, during a trip to London in April 2016.

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Photos: Barack Obama's presidency

Obama hugs Hillary Clinton after speaking at the Democratic National Convention in July 2016. Obama told the crowd at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center that Clinton is ready to be commander in chief. "For four years, I had a front-row seat to her intelligence, her judgment and her discipline," he said, referring to Clinton's stint as secretary of state.

PHOTO: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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The administration argues that the deal being negotiated would keep Iran in a box, freeze the “breakout” period at which it could race to a bomb at around one year and include monitoring and inspections that would thwart any covert bid by Tehran to make a nuclear weapon.

Administration officials have also argued that diplomacy is preferable to a military strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, reasoning that such an approach would only set back its ambitions for several years while jeopardizing the willingness of the international coalition to maintain sanctions key to keeping Iran in check.

Netanyahu, however, considers the deal taking shape in the talks a “bad” one and says the idea of lifting sanctions that have Iran “on the ropes” is nonsensical. He has also pointed to Iran’s duplicity – concealing entire nuclear sites, for instance – as reason to doubt that Iran could be effectively monitored and that the breakout period could be limited if Tehran maintains facilities for nuclear production.

Obama has repeatedly said that he will never allow Iran to get a nuclear bomb and threaten the Jewish state. But Netanyahu’s trip to Washington appears to indicate that the prime minister doesn’t trust that assurance.

U.S. power

In a wider sense, Obama and Netanyahu are also at opposite ends of a debate on the use of U.S. power that emerged as a fault line in American politics after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Netanyahu’s Likud Party is a much better fit with neoconservatives and Republican hawks who prospered in the early years of George W. Bush’s presidency than with Obama’s doctrine of “strategic patience” when deploying U.S. power abroad.

“I think Bibi has always been close to the American right, it is partly where he got his political education,” said Daniel Levy, who worked as an advisor to former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.

And from the start, it was clear that the two figures’ political ideologies were not in line.

During the 2008 campaign, Obama told a Jewish group that “there is a strain within the pro-Israel community that says unless you adopt an unwavering pro-Likud approach to Israel, then you’re anti-Israel.”

That, he told them, “can’t be the measure of our friendship with Israel.”