Benjamin Netanyahu Has Spent Years Outmaneuvering Joe Biden

For 15 years, the Israeli prime minister has proven his ability to scuttle political agreements — while never losing the United States’ backing.

Watching President Joe Biden clumsily debate Donald Trump on June 27, many Israelis could instantly recognize how their own prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been able to exploit the weaknesses of the aging commander-in-chief for so long.

Netanyahu has had a close relationship with his “friend Joe” for decades, going back to Biden’s days in the U.S. Senate and especially during the early years of the Barack Obama administration. According to Biden’s biographer Evan Osnos, the then-vice president served as a key mediator between Netanyahu and Obama as tensions grew between the two leaders, with Biden consistently advocating dialogue and preventing open confrontations.

biden and netanyahu speak at podiums next to each other

The Israeli prime minister knows this all too well. And it is precisely that intimate and historical knowledge of Biden, American politics, and U.S. support for Israel that has helped Netanyahu stay in power almost uninterrupted since 2009, and even more so since October 7. With this knowledge, Netanyahu has also consistently been able to rebuff efforts in Washington to achieve its stated goal of a two-state solution in Israel-Palestine — tactics that the Israeli prime minister continues to use today to prolong the war in Gaza.