President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have spoken for the first time since Biden’s inauguration, almost a month into his term.
Biden confirmed the call at the start of an Oval Office meeting on Wednesday with labor leaders, describing it as a “good conversation.” The White House later outlined that Biden had affirmed the United States’s “steadfast commitment to Israel’s security” and the U.S.-Israel partnership’s “strong defense cooperation.”
“The president emphasized U.S. support for the recent normalization of relations between Israel and countries in the Arab and Muslim world,” the White House said in a statement. “He underscored the importance of working to advance peace throughout the region, including between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Netanyahu’s office labeled the hourlong conversation as “very friendly and warm.”
“U.S. President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu discussed the future advancement of the peace accords, the Iranian threat and regional challenges, and agreed to continue their dialogue,” a Netanyahu aide wrote on social media.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke this evening with US President @JoeBiden. The conversation was very warm and friendly and continued for approximately one hour. pic.twitter.com/AF3x6aTM36
— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) February 17, 2021
The aide added: “US President Biden commended Prime Minister Netanyahu on his leadership in the fight against the coronavirus; the two exchanged ideas on ways to deal with the pandemic.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki had said earlier this week that the call would happen “soon.” She touted how it would be Biden’s first to a leader in the Middle East.
“Israel is, of course, an ally. Israel is a country where we have an important strategic security relationship. And our team is fully engaged — not at the head-of-state level quite yet, but very soon,” she said.
Last week, Psaki insisted that the delay was “not an intentional diss,” citing how the pair had known each other “for some time.”
The questions followed Israel’s former United Nations Ambassador Danny Danon urging Biden via Twitter to pick up the phone and speak to Netanyahu, who had been among the closest allies of former President Donald Trump.
“It is just a reflection of the fact that we have been here for 3.5 weeks. He’s not called every single global leader yet, and he is eager to do that in the weeks ahead,” Psaki said.
The Biden administration has slowly turned to its presidential-level Middle East diplomacy after calling Chinese President Xi Jinping last week. Biden also spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin before the Israeli leader.
The administration, though, has confirmed it would keep the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, a move initiated by Trump in 2018.
