As Ari Fleischer suggested today, we’re almost a month into Biden’s term and he still hasn’t called Netanyahu:
It’s day 26 of the Biden Administration. Has The American President called the Israeli Prime Minister yet?
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) February 15, 2021
Netanyahu was asked about this today:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday acknowledged differences with U.S. President Joe Biden over Iranian and Palestinian issues, but said they enjoy a “very strong” working relationship.
The White House on Friday denied that Biden was snubbing Netanyahu by failing to include him so far in an early round of phone calls to foreign leaders since taking office on Jan. 20.
Netanyahu dismissed any notion that Biden was intentionally excluding him, telling Israel’s Channel 12 television channel: “He’ll call … We have had very strong friendly relations for nearly 40 years, dating from the time I came to Washington as an Israeli diplomatic representative and he was a young senator from Delaware.”
There has been speculation that the Democratic president could be signaling displeasure over Netanyahu’s close ties with former President Donald Trump, who called the right-wing leader two days after his inauguration in 2017.
“We also have many things we agree on and the alliance is very strong,” Netanyahu said. “But there are also differences, on the issue of Iran and on the Palestinian issue as well.”
Netanyahu may find the alliance tested if Washington restores U.S. participation in the Iran nuclear deal, from which Trump withdrew, and opposes Israeli settlement building on occupied land where Palestinians seek statehood.
On Friday, the White House said Biden and Netanyahu would speak soon, but gave no date.
Netanyahu is the consummate politician who isn’t going to poison the waters with Biden. But he knows, just like we all know, that Biden’s refusal to call him is a huge snub. Israel is one of our closest allies, if not our closest, and Netanyahu deserved a call from Biden right after he took office.
This snub just shows that this administration, just like Obama, is not pro Israel. They are pro-Palestine and will do everything they can to undermine Netanyahu, I’m sure. Trump was a great friend of Israel and I’m sure Netanyahu will miss that greatly.
You know who Biden has called already? The Chinese president. Seriously.
Here are all of his overseas calls, in order:
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada
- President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom
- President Emmanuel Macron of France
- Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany
- Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of NATO
- President Vladimir Putin of Russia
- Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan
- President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India
- President Xi Jinping of China
Unbelievable.