{"id":7353,"date":"2026-06-18T16:35:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T16:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/18\/trump-netanyahu-tensions-have-israeli-and-us-leaders-clashed-before\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T16:35:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T16:35:31","slug":"trump-netanyahu-tensions-have-israeli-and-us-leaders-clashed-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/18\/trump-netanyahu-tensions-have-israeli-and-us-leaders-clashed-before\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump-Netanyahu tensions: Have Israeli and US leaders clashed before?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The deal between the United States and Iran to end the US-Israel war on Iran has faced fierce opposition from Israel, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel has continued to bomb Lebanon in what appears to be a violation of the deal formally signed on Wednesday by US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian.<\/p>\n

Trump has expressed his displeasure at the continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Netanyahu \u201chas to be more responsible\u201d in Lebanon, the US president said at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in France on Tuesday. \u201cI\u2019m not happy\u201d with Israel\u2019s invasion and handling of Hezbollah, he said.<\/p>\n

On Sunday<\/a>, Trump condemned<\/a> Israel\u2019s bombing of Beirut, the Lebanese capital, just moments before the deal with Iran was to be locked.<\/p>\n

The US media have published stories based on anonymous sources of rifts between US presidents and Israeli leaders, but such reported tensions have not wavered US support for its close ally. The Trump-brokered deal to end the Gaza war, experts say, gave Israel an opportunity to deepen its occupation of the Palestinian enclave.<\/p>\n

In fact, some of the most bitter public disputes between the US and Israeli leaders have been followed by deeper security cooperation and sustained military support for Israel.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu was scathing in his attack on former US President Barack Obama for inking the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, but that did not stop the US administration under Obama from rewarding Israel with the biggest military aid package ($38bn) in the two countries\u2019 history.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the charted history of clashes between the US and Israeli leaders that have shaped the bilateral relationship.<\/p>\n

\"trump\"
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet in Washington, DC in 2017 [File: Kevin Lamarque\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What\u2019s up with Trump and Netanyahu?<\/h2>\n

Israel has been furious at the US\u2019s deal with Iran that mandates ending hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Israeli forces now control some 20 percent of Lebanon\u2019s territory, and Netanyahu and his cabinet colleagues have vowed that the Israeli military would not withdraw from the country\u2019s land.<\/p>\n

In a rare move, the US president appeared to lecture Israel over civilian casualties in its strikes on the region. \u201cToo many people have been killed. And you do not have to knock down an apartment every time you are looking for somebody,\u201d Trump said on Tuesday, referring to Netanyahu\u2019s tactics in Lebanon, which mirror Israel\u2019s genocidal war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The US media has been rife with reports of simmering tensions between Trump and Netanyahu. On June 2, US-based news outlet Axios reported that Trump called Netanyahu \u201cf***ing crazy\u201d and berated him over Israel\u2019s escalation in Lebanon, where nearly 4,000 people have been killed and 1.2 million displaced.<\/p>\n

Israeli media reported in May last year of a rift between Trump and Netanyahu<\/a> over the latter\u2019s trip to the Middle East that excluded Israel and over Washington\u2019s engagement of Iran and its regional allies, the Houthis.<\/p>\n

Trump, who brokered the Gaza ceasefire, persuaded Netanyahu to accept the deal to end that war. He reportedly told Netanyahu, \u201cBibi, you can\u2019t fight the world\u201d while pushing him to sign the deal.<\/p>\n

Have US and Israeli leaders clashed before?<\/h2>\n

Eisenhower vs Ben-Gurion (1956-57)<\/h3>\n

Perhaps the most serious US-Israel confrontation ever came during the Suez Crisis.<\/p>\n

Israel had joined Britain and France in attacking Egypt after Cairo nationalised the Suez Canal, leaving then-US President Dwight Eisenhower furious.<\/p>\n

Washington feared the war would strengthen Soviet influence in the Arab world as Eisenhower publicly demanded that then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion withdraw Israeli forces, reportedly threatening economic and diplomatic pressure. Egypt was able to retain control of the waterway.<\/p>\n

Middle East analysts look back at this as the strongest pressure a US president has successfully exerted on Israel.<\/p>\n

The incident happened years before the US-Israeli ties were solidified after the 1967 war, when Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.<\/p>\n

\"bush\"
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir meets US President George Bush on November 15, 1989 at the White House in Washington, DC [Ira Schwarz\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bush vs Shamir (1991-92)<\/h3>\n

After the Gulf War, US President George Bush sought Arab-Israeli peace talks and opposed the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.<\/p>\n

The Bush administration delayed $10b in loan guarantees sought by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir until Israel addressed settlement concerns.<\/p>\n

This resulted in a public standoff, with Bush infamously describing himself as \u201cone lonely little guy\u201d on Capitol Hill, pushing back against pro-Israel lobbying attempts.<\/p>\n

However, it did not end up reducing the aid fundamentally, and the military relationship continued and expanded under subsequent administrations.<\/p>\n

\"clinton\"
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Jordan\u2019s King Hussein, US President Bill Clinton, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gather on the first day of a group Middle East crisis summit meeting on October 1, 1996 in Washington, DC [Win McNamee\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clinton vs Netanyahu (1996-99)<\/h3>\n

Barely a month into office for the first time, in 1996, Netanyahu met US President Bill Clinton in Washington. That did not end well.<\/p>\n

Clinton reportedly asked his aides afterwards: \u201cWho the f*** does he think he is? Who\u2019s the f***ing superpower here?\u201d<\/p>\n

While Clinton came into office deeply invested in the Oslo Accords launched under former Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin, Netanyahu was opposed to the Oslo stipulation that called for the freezing of settlements. Netanyahu later boasted about how he undermined the Oslo process. Israel\u2019s settler population has grown from 250,000 in the 1990s to 700,000 today.<\/p>\n

Despite their strained ties, Clinton devoted political capital to brokering the 1998 Wye River Memorandum, which promised Palestinians faster and further autonomy. It involved <\/span>intensive negotiations between Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.<\/span><\/p>\n

In May next year, the Netanyahu-led coalition collapsed, and Ehud Barak took over as Israel\u2019s prime minister.<\/p>\n

\"obama\"
US President Barack Obama, right, meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on May 18, 2009, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC [Larry Downing\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Obama vs Netanyahu (2009-16)<\/h3>\n

This was perhaps the most public clash in recent decades.<\/p>\n

The Obama-Netanyahu relationship deteriorated first over Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and later over the US administration\u2019s negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme.<\/p>\n

The confrontation peaked in 2015 when Netanyahu accepted an invitation from Republicans to address Congress and speak out against Obama\u2019s Iran policy without coordinating with the White House.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu argued the proposed nuclear agreement \u201cpaves Iran\u2019s path to the bomb\u201d. Obama administration officials criticised the move, and several Democrats boycotted the address.<\/p>\n

But still, next year, Obama signed the biggest cheque to Israel, worth over $38bn.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica\u2019s commitment to Israel\u2019s security is unshakeable,\u201d the White House said in a statement announcing the aid. \u201cFor as long as the state of Israel has existed, the United States has been Israel\u2019s greatest friend and partner, a fact underscored again today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is Israel still an asset for the US?<\/h3>\n

Netanyahu and Trump remain in a complicated relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump likes Netanyahu because there is something that reminds him of himself,\u201d said Yossi Mekelberg, a senior consulting fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, a London-based think tank. \u201cSomeone that is transactional, self-serving, and ready to go to war \u2013 that\u2019s appealing to Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, Netanyahu understands the United States, and \u201cNetanyahu thinks he can manipulate because he lives on manipulation. He has manipulated Israeli society,\u201d Mekelberg told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cNetanyahu can spin any situation the way he wants,\u201d he said. \u201cBut, at times, he also knows where to put the brakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

But now, Trump appears to push Netanyahu into deep waters, said Mekelberg.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe US and Israel relations go beyond a single person: there is commonality of interest and values. But the bipartisan support for Israel has been waning in the US,\u201d he noted, adding that US support under Trump could not be taken for granted by Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Israel was seen as a strategic asset once, the way it is has been under Netanyahu, Israel is now seen as a burden.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The deal between the United States and Iran to end the US-Israel war on Iran has faced fierce opposition from Israel, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel has continued to bomb Lebanon in what appears to be a violation of the deal formally signed on Wednesday by US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}