WASHINGTON, US President Joe Biden and Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid any tensions to rest Wednesday 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 January 20, despite Israel’s special relationship with the
United States.
But both sides stressed their close ties during the call, 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 normalizing 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 defense cooperation,” a White
House statement said.
In a statement, Netanyahu’s media advisor called the talk “very warm and
friendly” and lasting about an hour.
“The two leaders noted their longstanding personal connection” and 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 their dialogue.”
– Biden made a point –
Placing Netanyahu far down on the list was widely interpreted as Biden’s
way of signaling 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 other 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.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki insisted that Netanyahu
wasn’t being ignored — but indicated that he was not exactly on the front
burner.
“Let me confirm for you that his first call with a leader in the region
will be Prime Minister Netanyahu,” she said. “I don’t have an exact date for
you but it is soon.”
– Iran disagreement persists –
Despite the back-to-normal nature of the phone call, Biden’s Mideast agenda
is already taking a sharp turn from the one that made Trump so popular with
Netanyahu.
Crucially, Trump withdrew from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers to
keep Tehran’s nuclear industry under close monitoring in exchange for
relaxing crippling sanctions on the country.
This pleased Israel, which insists that Iran was cheating on the deal and
working toward a nuclear weapon — something the Iranians denied.
Biden has come into office declaring that he wants to return to the deal in
some form, calling Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran a failure.
In Wednesday’s phone call, “Biden also commended Netanyahu on his
leadership in the fight against the coronavirus,” the Israeli premier’s media
adviser added.
Israel has surged ahead in its vaccination drive against Covid-19.
The country of about nine million people on Tuesday delivered a shot of the
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to its four millionth citizen.
More than 2.6 million of them have already received the second jab
recommended for maximum protection