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On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Joe Biden on winning the US presidential election and described him as “a great friend of Israel.”
Netanyahu thanked Donald Trump for elevating relations between Israel and the United States to “unprecedented heights.”
“We congratulate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” Netanyahu wrote in a tweet on his Twitter account. “Joe has known each other for almost forty years, our relationship is warm and I know that you are a great friend of Israel.”
I congratulate @Joe Biden Y-@KamalaHarris. Joe, we have had long lasting, warm and personal relationships for almost 40 years and I know you as a great friend to Israel. I look forward to working with you two to continue to strengthen the special alliance that exists between the United States and Israel.
– Benjamin Netanyahu (@Israelipm_ar) November 8, 2020
The Israeli prime minister, who had described Trump as “the best friend of Israel that has been through the White House,” continued in his tweet: “I hope I can go further with the two of you to further deepen the special alliance between the United States. and Israel. “
He added in a second tweet: “Thank you Donald Trump for the friendship you have shown Israel and me personally, for the recognition of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, for your position on Iran, for these historic peace accords and for leading the US-Israel alliance to incomparable heights. “
From recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the Hebrew state to supporting settlements in the occupied West Bank, blessing the annexation of the Golan, and encouraging normalization of relations between Israel and Arab countries, Republican President Donald Trump has been a staunch supporter of Israel.
Netanyahu, like most Israelis, expected Trump to win the presidential election. Two recent polls showed that 63 percent of Israelis prefer Trump to Biden (17 or 18 percent), whose percentage of supporters is less than undecided (20 percent).
However, Biden has known Israel for a long time, visiting it for the first time in 1973. He stated in 2015 that the United States must fulfill its “sacred promise to protect the original homeland of the Jews.”
Despite the deep ties, many in Israel view Biden’s team with suspicion.
Elected Israeli officials fear the emergence of a new generation less supportive and possibly hostile to the Jewish state within the Democratic Party and a weakening of US policy toward Iran in the Biden era.
Israeli centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid, who recently expressed concern about the emergence of “extremist” and “anti-Israel” voices among US Democrats, congratulated Biden and Harris from Saturday, asking them to strengthen relations with Israel on the basis of “values” and “interests” that are dear to them. Both countries.
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