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JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden on Sunday, praising a strong alliance that could be burdened by differences over policy on Iran and the Palestinians.
“Congratulations @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. Joe, we have had a long and warm personal relationship for almost 40 years, and I know you as a great friend of Israel. I look forward to working with you two to further strengthen the special alliance between the United States and Israel. “Netanyahu said on his Twitter account, which still carries a photograph of himself and current US President Donald Trump at the top.
Having stood by Trump’s side for four years, Netanyahu is likely to be challenged by any deviation by Biden from Trump’s tough policy toward Iran and toward the Palestinians. Biden has pledged to restore US involvement in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, from which Trump had withdrawn, and likely White House opposition to Israeli settlement of occupied lands where Palestinians seek statehood.
Netanyahu thanked Trump in a subsequent tweet:
“Thank you @realDonaldTrump for the friendship you have shown the State of Israel and me personally, for recognizing Jerusalem and the Golan, for confronting Iran, for the historic peace accords and for taking the American-Israeli alliance to unprecedented heights “.
Netanyahu’s message came hours after many world leaders already congratulated Democrat Biden, even as Trump refused to budge and went ahead with legal battles against the result.
A spokesman for Netanyahu did not respond to a request for comment on the relative delay. Dani Dayan, a former Israeli consul in New York, said Netanyahu’s slow response was a precautionary measure.
“There is a president in the White House who has not yet acknowledged his defeat and whose whims definitely play an important role in his decision-making process and he will be sitting in the White House for another two and a half months,” Dayan told the Army. Radio.
Right-wing Netanyahu’s particularly close ties with Trump followed a rough relationship with his predecessor Barack Obama, which some critics have said had alienated Democrats and compromised US bipartisan support for Israel.
Michael Oren, Netanyahu’s ambassador to Washington when Obama was president, predicted warm ties to Biden. “They will have disagreements on the peace process. They will certainly have disagreements on the nuclear deal with Iran, but I think their friendship is strong.”
The Israeli stock market responded positively to Biden’s victory. Both the top-line Tel Aviv 35 Index and the broader TA-125 were up about 0.3% in morning trading.
Still, among Israelis, Trump has gained overwhelming popularity and many may be sad to see him leave.
“I think the problem is that Biden will not be as tough or strong as Donald Trump,” said Aaron Morali, a student from Tel Aviv. “It made it difficult for the Iranian people to have a nuclear plan, but I think with Biden they have someone very easy and I am very, very scared of what will happen.”
(Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Rami Amichay; written by Maayan Lubell; edited by William Mallard, Simon Cameron-Moore, and Raissa Kasolowsky)
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