Q&A
Aaron David Miller, David Rennie
{
"authors": [
"Aaron David Miller"
],
"type": "legacyinthemedia",
"centerAffiliationAll": "",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"programAffiliation": "",
"programs": [],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"North America",
"United States",
"Middle East",
"Israel"
],
"topics": [
"Foreign Policy"
]
}
Source: Getty
In The Media
Who’s Afraid of Joe Biden? Not Benjamin Netanyahu
Anyone who believes that the Biden-Netanyahu relationship is headed for a train wreck ought to lie down and wait quietly until the feeling passes.
Published on Nov 24, 2020
Source: CNN
Frustrated by the lecture he'd received on the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict during his first meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 1996, President Bill Clinton exploded to aides afterward -- "Who's the f***ing superpower here?"
Fast forward to May 2011. This time, Netanyahu lectured President Barack Obama (or so it was characterized by PBS) about the Middle East peace process, stunning aides and the press corps with the fact that an Israeli prime minister would talk to a US president in such fashion. But Netanyahu was so impressed with the encounter that he turned it into a campaign ad.
Two American presidents, one Israeli prime minister and a level of diplomatic chutzpah unprecedented in the history of the US-Israeli relationship.
And yet, despite the tensions of the Clinton and particularly the Obama years, Netanyahu emerged unscathed, giving up very little to Palestinians or restricting settlements -- and gaining much, especially on US military assistance. Indeed, by 2015, blatantly casting his lot with Republicans in opposing the Iran nuclear deal, Netanyahu had already set the stage for his four-year honeymoon with Donald Trump.
So, why should Netanyahu be afraid of Joe Biden?
The short answer is he shouldn't.
About the Author
Aaron David Miller
Senior Fellow, American Statecraft Program
Aaron David Miller is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, focusing on U.S. foreign policy.
- “China Doesn’t Do Anything for Free”
- Trump’s National Security Decisionmaking Is BrokenCommentary
Daniel C. Kurtzer, Aaron David Miller
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Brussels and Baku Are Talking Again: What Next?Commentary
Azerbaijan’s relations with the EU appear to be going from strength to strength after several years in the deep freeze following the military escalation in Karabakh in 2023 and Azerbaijan’s bitter fallout with France and several other EU member states.
Shujaat Ahmadzada
- Trump Turns NATO into a Tool of CoercionCommentary
The full list of humiliations Europe has endured since Donald Trump returned to the White House makes for grim reading. But Washington’s adversarial approach to its allies undermines its own power base.
Rym Momtaz
- The French Far Right’s Foreign Policy: Big Ambitions, Uncertain DirectionPaper
The National Rally’s electoral strength, coupled with its internal fragility at a crucial political juncture, contributes to foreign policy vagueness.
Catherine Fieschi
- India–Africa Strategic Partnership: Challenges, Potential, and Possible PathwaysArticle
A partnership between India, a country of subcontinental size, and Africa, a continent of fifty-four countries, may seem asymmetric until one notes that both are home to nearly the same number of people—1.4 billion. This essay spells out the existing challenges to the partnership, its optimal potential, and the possible pathways to realize it over the next quarter-century.
Rajiv Bhatia
- A Geographic and Social Reconfiguration in LebanonCommentary
Israel is encroaching on the country’s territory, while the Lebanese look askance at one another.
Issam Kayssi
