Biden, Netanyahu chill out with ‘good conversation’

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid any tensions to rest by finally holding their first phone call since the change of administration in Washington.

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

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

The White House said Biden registered “support” for a series of agreements brokered by his predecessor Donald Trump on normalising relations between Israel and Arab and Muslim countries.

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

In a statement, Netanyahu’s media adviser called the talk “warm and friendly” and lasting about an hour.

“The two leaders agreed to strengthen the countries’ alliance, the statement added.

The Israeli premier and US president “discussed the future advancement of the peace accords, the Iranian threat and regional challenges, and agreed to continue dialogue”.

Placing Netanyahu far down on the list was widely interpreted as Biden’s way of signalling a reset in US-Mideast relations following the Trump era.

The Republican often boasted of being what he called the most “pro-Israel” president in US history.

He closely followed Netanyahu’s priorities, including moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem – a move seen as provocative by many countries.

Biden has also made a point of cooling the close personal relations established by Trump with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The Democrat has yet to call the Saudis and says when he does it will be to King Salman himself.

The perception of a cold shoulder irked Netanyahu’s Likud Party.

Danny Danon, head of Likud’s global wing, recently tweeted a list of Biden’s conversations with leaders and asked, “Might it now be time to call the leader of Israel, the closest ally of the US?”

And Nikki Haley, Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, accused the Biden administration of “snubbing” Israel.