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Netanyahu finally receives much coveted phone call from Biden

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 18 February 2021 12:39 AM

A month into his presidency, US President Joe Biden has finally called Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after taking his time to contact leaders of several other countries around the world.

"The conversation was very warm and friendly and continued for approximately one hour," Netanyahu's office said, adding that they specifically talked about the so-called Abraham Accords, Iran and fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a series of tweets, Netanyahu's office added that the two sides noted their personal ties of many years and said they "would work together to continue strengthening the steadfast alliance between Israel and the US."

Asked by reporters about the call, Biden said it was a "good conversation". He did not further elaborate on the issues brought up during the call.

The White House later provided a readout of the call, which said Biden affirmed his personal history of steadfast commitment to Israel's security.

"Together, the leaders discussed the importance of continued close consultation on regional security issues, including Iran," the readout said. "The president emphasized US support for the recent normalization of relations between Israel and countries in the Arab and Muslim world."

Netanyahu enjoyed a warm relationship with former US President Donald Trump. He was Trump's third call after taking office on January 20, 2017.

Early last year, Netanyahu described Trump as the "greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House."

However, the Israeli prime minister had a strained relationship with former President Barack Obama, partly because Obama signed a multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran in 2015. Biden was vice president when the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was inked.

The JCPOA was abandoned by Trump in 2018 – a move that Netanyahu had forcefully campaigned for. He also lauded Trump for quitting the JCPOA and his "maximum pressure" campaign against the Islamic Republic.

When running for president, Biden said he would rejoin the JCPOA if elected, getting him and the Israeli premier off to a shaky start.

Almost a month has passed since the new US president's inauguration, prompting many to speculate that Netanyahu was being snubbed by Biden, who had already called leaders of Canada, Mexico, South Korea, France, and the UK among others.

When pressed on Tuesday to explain why the phone call had not been made, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, , told reporters to "stay tuned".

The hawkish Israeli prime minister has already called for continued US pressure against Iran, saying the US will lose its leverage if it returns to the JCPOA without demanding more in return.

Iran, for its part, has strongly rejected calls to make concessions given Washington's illegal withdrawal from the already negotiated nuclear pact, which was also propped up in the form of a UN Security Council resolution at the time.

In a televised interview on Monday, Netanyahu pledged to fight those who oppose his bellicose stance against Iran but at the same time said he has "wonderful ties" with Democrats in the US Congress.

"Whoever supports our policies, I'm with him. And whoever endangers us, for example [on policies] regarding a nuclear Iran, which is an existential threat to us, so I oppose that, and I don't care if it's Democrats," he told Israel's Channel 12.

On Tuesday, Israel's ambassador to Washington said the regime would not engage with Biden on its Iran policy, urging a "credible military threat" against Tehran.

"We will not be able to be part of such a process if the new administration returns to that deal," Gilad Erdan told Israel's Army Radio, adding that "all its leverage will be lost" if the US returns to the nuclear accord.

Erdan said the current sanctions and new ones, combined with a credible military threat, might ultimately lead to a better deal that would prevent Iran from "breaking ahead" toward nuclear weapons – an allegation that Iran has rejected over and over again.