Biden told Netanyahu his commitment to Israel is “unquestionable.”
By World Israel News Staff
President Joe Biden on Monday evening finally called apparent prime minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him, almost a week after Israel held national elections.
Biden told Netanyahu that his commitment to Israel is “unquestionable,” a statement by Netanyahu’s Likud party said.
For his part, Netanyahu said the U.S.-Israel relationship is “as strong as ever.”
Referencing the Abraham Accords normalizing ties between Israel and Arab nations, Netanyahu told the U.S. president that the two nations would work together to “bring more historic peace deals.”
Other world leaders were much quicker than Biden in congratulating the opposition leader on his election win.
According to Israeli media reports, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides on Friday said the delay was over Biden’s busy schedule ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Biden issued a statement congratulating Brazil’s dovish president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on his win immediately after last Sunday’s elections and followed that with a phone call.
It isn’t the first time Biden has left Netanyahu dangling. It was almost a full month before the American president picked up the phone to call Netanyahu after he took office in January of last year.
After the official results of the elecion are presented to Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday, he will have a week to meet with all party heads before tasking Netanyahu with forming Israel’s next government.