Biden first conversation with Netanyahu – Biden expressed his commitment to continue strengthening the US relationship with Israel

As reported by the White House in a statement, Biden has advocated continuing the “strong” defense cooperation and stressed his “support” to continue with the “normalization of relations between Israel and the countries of the Arab world.”

Likewise, he has shown the “firm commitment” of his Administration to the security of Israel and has underlined the importance of working to “Promote peace throughout the region, including between Israelis and Palestinians.”

Also, in the conversation, the first between the prime minister of Israel and the American president, both have affirmed their interest in “continuous strategic cooperation to face the many challenges facing the region”.

“The conversation was very warm, friendly and lasted for about an hour”, Israel has pointed out from the prime minister’s official Twitter profile, where it has also been reiterated that both leaders have stressed that “they would work together to continue strengthening the firm alliance” between the countries.

According to Netanyahu’s official profile, both have discussed “the advancement of future peace agreements, the Iranian threat and regional challenges,” and the US president has praised his counterpart for his “leadership in the fight against the coronavirus.” , a subject on which they have also “exchanged ideas”.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu

Netanyahu was one of the last foreign leaders to receive a call from Biden, who took office on January 20, despite Israel’s special relationship with the United States.

But both sides highlighted their close ties during the call, which Biden told reporters was a “good conversation.”

The White House said that Biden registered “support” for a series of agreements negotiated by his predecessor Donald Trump to normalize relations between Israel and Arab and Muslim countries.

And Biden “affirmed his personal record of steadfast commitment to Israel’s security and conveyed his intention to strengthen all aspects of the US-Israel partnership, including our strong defense cooperation,” said a White House statement.

Biden made a point

Placing Netanyahu very low on the list was widely interpreted as Biden’s way of signaling a reboot in US-Middle East relations after the Trump era.

The Republican often boasted of being what he called the most “pro-Israel” president in American history. He closely followed Netanyahu’s priorities, including moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem, a move considered provocative by many other countries.

Biden has also struggled to cool down the close personal relationships established by Trump with the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Democrat has yet to call the Saudis and says that when he does, it will be King Salman himself.