At one of the many low points in the Clinton-Netanyahu relationship, the US President and the Israeli prime minister flew into Los Angeles Airport on the same day in November 1997. The Clinton administration, fuming at Mr Netanyahu's stalling on peace moves, had resolutely rejected Israeli requests for an invitation to the White House during the prime minister's US visit.
Although the two leaders spent the next few hours in California attending various functions, the Americans were still adamant that the President had no time or inclination for a meeting.
In the next few days, by way of contrast, Mr Netanyahu's successor, Mr Ehud Barak, will meet President Clinton on no fewer than four occasions - twice for substantive talks, once for a dinner, and once for a gala ball. Mr Clinton is not merely putting out the red carpet for Mr Barak. He has all but got the White House staff out on the lawn chanting songs in his praise.
Barely a week after taking office, and having already crammed in a head-spinning four major summits - with President Mubarak of Egypt, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, King Abdullah of Jordan and President Suleyman Demirel of Turkey - Mr Barak flew off to Washington yesterday with the cheers of the Arab world ringing in his ears.
The new first face of Israel can expect more of the same relieved enthusiasm from a US administration that has barely bothered to hide its delight at Mr Netanyahu's departure. Indeed, President Clinton has pronounced himself as "eager as a kid with a new toy" over Mr Barak's arrival.
Mr Clinton was a great admirer of Mr Barak's political patron, Yitzhak Rabin, and will want to confirm that the new Prime Minister shares his assassinated mentor's pragmatic approach to peacemaking - the assessment that Israel's prospects of attaining a tranquil home in a normalised Middle East can best be advanced by trading land for peace agreements.
So far, Mr Barak has given all the right signals. He has recommitted himself to the Wye peace deal that Mr Netanyahu froze, albeit suggesting that he may seek certain amendments and would like to combine Wye's provisions for West Bank land hand-overs with accelerated progress towards a permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace accord. And he has repeated his fervent hopes of making peace with Syria, winning the reciprocal pledge from President Hafez alAssad to devote "all Syria's strength" to the cause.