article_snippet: There are any number of irritants -- from settlement construction to failed peace talks to Israeli military action in Gaza and Lebanon -- which have long tested the alliance between Washington and Israel.
article_snippet: But ties have grown increasingly strained between President Barack Obama and Netanyahu, playing out over the last several years in a series of awkward photo-ops, anonymous quotes in U.S. and Israeli media and tense body language.
article_snippet: Relations hit a low point recently with Netanyahu's speech to Congress criticizing President Obama's policy toward Iran about Iran nuclear program.
article_snippet: For all its official praise for the "unshakable bonds" between U.S. and Israeli, the White House sees Netanyahu as the problem.
article_snippet: Personal relations may be fraught now, but President Obama has never suggested watering down or delaying mostly military U.S. aid to Israel, which amounts to $3 billion a year.
article_snippet: Privately, however, U.S. officials have warned the level of Washington's political support for Israel with allies and at the United Nations could be affected by Netanyahu's attitude toward the President Obama administration.
article_snippet: Netanyahu has been clear
article_snippet: Netanyahu has similarly said Netanyahu would never accept a nuclear Iran and stresses all options are on the table, including the military options.
article_snippet: Beyond Netanyahu longstanding support to Hezbollah in Lebanon and backing of the al-Assad government in Syria, Iran has extended Iran involvement in Iraq's battle against ISIS and has provided support to Houthis in Yemen.
article_snippet: During the campaign, Netanyahu has hedged on Netanyahu longstanding support for a two-state solution, but has not abandoned the idea entirely.
article_snippet: Indeed, Netanyahu's aggressive style has been cited as a major factor in strained ties with the United States and Europe -- a perception caught in a hot-mic conversation between President Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2011, in which French President Nicolas Sarkozy lamented French President Nicolas Sarkozy couldn't "bear" Netanyahu, calling French President Nicolas Sarkozy a "liar.
article_snippet: Obama replied, "You're fed up with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, but I have to deal with French President Nicolas Sarkozy even more often than you."