Netanyahu’s long history of confounding US presidents

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CNN —

Benjamin Netanyahu has been weaving in and out of US politics for decades.

When the Israeli prime minister addresses a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, it will be his fourth such appearance since 1996, more than any other foreign leader in history and the same number of addresses to Congress a US president gives during one term.

Netanyahu has known President Joe Biden for decades, but Biden doubts Netanyahu’s sincerity. The Israeli leader is still trying to regain the trust of former President Donald Trump, who he offended after the 2020 election.

Netanyahu earned the undying enmity of former President Barack Obama for trying to tank the Iran nuclear deal. He was close personal friends with Mitt Romney, Obama’s challenger in 2012 and now a US senator, from the time when Romney and Netanyahu worked for the same US-based company in the 1970s.

Former President Bill Clinton exploded after his first meeting with Netanyahu in 1996, telling aides, “Who’s the f—- superpower here,” according to the former Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller.

Then-President Bill Clinton meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House.

In 2015, the last time Netanyahu addressed Congress, it was a rousing and partisan affair, bringing members of Congress to their feet and turning public opinion against the fragile multi-country deal meant to give Iran access to oil money in exchange for controlling its nuclear program.

Republican leaders in Congress invited Netanyahu to deliver the address in 2015, and he used the opportunity to feed a domestic US political split over the Iran