Biden, Netanyahu Yet to Speak Since Inauguration Uri Cohen 01/28/2021
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is patiently awaiting his phone call from that special someone, and it appears he may have to wait longer than he first anticipated. More than a week has passed since US President Joe Biden took office, and the leader of the Free World has yet to ring Netanyahu, in what some in Israel are calling a troubling snub. The two leaders, said to have built a sound relationship during their decades in public service, held a brief conversation over two months ago, two weeks after Biden was elected president, but the line has since remained silent. President Biden, meanwhile, has spoken with the premiers of Canada, Germany, Britain, France, Russia, Japan and Mexico, as well as with the head of NATO, since Inauguration Day. By comparison, former President Donald Trump called Netanyahu, perhaps his closest friend on the world stage, three days after entering the White House.
Over week after taking office, Biden yet to call Netanyahu
Some argue POTUS supposed snubbing of PM stems from new administration s reluctance to hand Israeli leader achievements that may boost his reelection bid in upcoming March polls; diplomats claim Democrat simply follows protocol and will contact Netanyahu soon
Itamar Eichner |
Published: 01.28.21 , 09:46
Over a week after being inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden has yet to call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by Thursday morning.
The 78-year-old Democrat had already spoken to Canadian President Justin Trudeau, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkle, French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel s diplomatic reporter
Eitan Na eh, the head of Israel s mission to the UAE, in Abu Dhabi on January 24, 2021. (Foreign Ministry/courtesy)
Israel officially opened its embassy to the United Arab Emirates in the United Arab Emirates Sunday, as Ambassador Eitan Na’eh arrived in Abu Dhabi.
The development came on the same day that the UAE approved the opening of its embassy in Tel Aviv.
“The embassy will work to advance Israel’s interests and will be at the disposal of its citizens,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It will work from a temporary office, which will begin operations in the coming days, until a permanent location can be found, the ministry said.
Jan. 11, 2021
Kahol Lavan chairman Benny Gantz called on leaders of center-left parties to unite ahead of Israel s March 23 election in order to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – his coalition partner over the past year.
Gantz, addressing the press in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan, once again cited the coronavirus crisis as the reason for going into a unity government with Netanyahu, saying: I shook the hand of the man I vowed to replace. because Israel is at war and I m its soldier, first and foremost. I was wrong. He cheated me and cheated you.
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Alternate Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Benny Gantz, left, and Minister of Justice Avi Nissenkorn visit at the Jerusalem Municipality on November 10, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Former justice minister Avi Nissenkorn heavily criticized his erstwhile ally Benny Gantz Friday, days after quitting the Blue and White party and his cabinet post, accusing him of managing talks behind his back with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would “severely harm the rule of law” and void the justice minister’s powers.
In a Facebook post, Nissenkorn laid into Gantz’s recent conduct as the latter attempted to salvage the coalition with Netanyahu in recent weeks an effort that ultimately failed, with the government collapsing and new elections being called for March.