“He is looking forward to speaking with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters at a daily briefing when asked when Biden would call. Prime Minister Netanyahu is someone the president has known for some time.” Biden, she said, was “looking forward to having the conversation.”Israel is one of Washington’s closest allies. Trump and his predecessor, Barack Obama, under whom Biden served as vice president, both spoke to Netanyahu within days of taking office. While Netanyahu was almost in lock-step with Trump over Middle East policy, he could be in for frostier relations with Biden. Biden has long been regarded in Israel as a friend in Washington but he and Netanyahu have sometimes not seen eye-to-eye.

Source: Egypt Independent February 12, 2021 21:22 UTC