Frenemies

Bibi and Obama Clash at White House

Netanyahu rejects plan based on 1967 borders.

A day after President Obama delivered a major speech on Mideast policy—raising the ire of Benjamin Netanyahu—the right-wing Israeli prime minister visited the White House to try to smooth things over. But the meeting seemed not to have done much to ease the tension between the two, who have had a strained relationship. Netanyahu rejected President Obama's endorsement of a Palestinian state based on a 1967 borders agreement, and Obama told reporters that he had reiterated his insistence that such a state is necessary for peace. "Peace based on illusions will crash eventually on the rocks of Middle East reality," Netanyahu reportedly told Obama in the Oval Office. Both leaders acknowledged that they agreed to disagree, but would continue to maintain friendly relations and work together on establishing compromises.