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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday spoke to Joe Biden, and in a statement thereafter for the first time explicitly referred to the Democrat as President-elect of the United States.
The Prime Minister’s Office said that the call was scheduled several days ago, lasted about 20 minutes and included a commitment by the two leaders to meet in the near future.
“In a warm conversation, the President-elect [Biden] reiterated his deep commitment to the State of Israel and its security. Prime Minister Netanyahu said that the special bond between Israel and the US is a fundamental component of Israel’s security and its policy,” the PMO missive said.
For his part, Biden released a statement emphasizing “his steadfast support for Israel’s security and its future as a Jewish and democratic state,” adding “that he expects to work closely with the [Israeli] prime minister to address the many challenges confronting [the two] countries.”
Biden also “expressed his determination to ensure that the US-Israel relationship is strengthened and enjoys strong bipartisan support.”
Earlier in the day, the incoming POTUS spoke by phone with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin:
Speaking just now with President-elect @JoeBiden to congratulate him, I said that as a old friend of #Israel he knows our friendship is based on values beyond partisan politics. We have no doubt that under his leadership the United States is committed to our security and success. pic.twitter.com/BLh9Dxl8A3
— Reuven Rivlin (@PresidentRuvi) November 17, 2020
Many observers have noted that Biden and Netanyahu only connected 10 days after the US election, raising speculation that they may not be on the same page regarding policies related, in particular, to Iran and the Palestinians.
In a rare occurrence, Israeli officials publicly confirmed that the country’s military launched air strikes on Wednesday against Syrian army and, perhaps most notably, Iranian Quds Force assets in Syria. The attacks came after the IDF uncovered explosive devices in the Israeli portion of the Golan Heights.
An IDF spokesman said that eight targets were hit, including an Iranian headquarters at Damascus International Airport; a “secret military site” that served as a “hosting facility for senior Iranian delegations when they come to Syria to operate;” and the 7th Division of the Syrian armed forces.
“The actual planting of the IEDs [improvised explosive devices] was done by Syrian locals but the guidance, instruction and control was by the Iranian Quds Force — that is why we decided to retaliate against them in Syria,” spokesman Jonathan Conricus said.
Another IDF official said that the Jewish state had in August tried to send a similar message to Tehran and Damascus after a previous attempt to plant bombs along the border, but it evidently “wasn’t received.”
In response, Israeli authorities called on the UN peacekeeping force meant to uphold the 1974 cease-fire between Israel and Syria with a view to preventing such hostilities moving forward.
The Palestinian Authority is restoring ties with Israel that Ramallah severed in May as a result of Jerusalem’s now-shelved plan to apply sovereignty over parts of the West Bank in accordance with the Trump Administration’s Middle East peace proposal. The about-face will allow for renewed security cooperation, which both sides view as mutually beneficial, and help alleviate the PA’s perpetual financial crisis by allowing it to receive tax revenues that the Jewish state collects on its behalf, as stipulated in the Oslo Accords.
The decision is being construed as an effort to curry favor with US President-elect Joe Biden, who is expected to adopt a more conciliatory approach to the Palestinians. This is anticipated to include the renewal of American aid to the PA, and, more broadly, a return to the longstanding peacemaking paradigm, from which President Donald Trump broke.
The PA has been boycotting the White House since December 2017, when the current POTUS recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Most recently, Ramallah has been highly critical of the three US-mediated normalization agreements that Israel forged with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan, respectively.
Hamas, which rules Gaza, condemned the PA’s “return to relations with the criminal Zionist occupation,” calling it a “stab in the back” for recent efforts to promote Palestinian unity – a reference to recent talks held between representatives of the terror group and PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction.
There was no immediate comment on the matter from Israel.
Nine Israelis were successfully evacuated from an area in northern Ethiopia that has transformed into a war zone.
“The Israelis were rescued from the battle zones in Tigray in a complex rescue operation conducted by the Foreign Ministry in cooperation with the Ethiopian government and the local army, the United Nations and the international aid organizations in the region,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that its representatives have been in constant contact with the families of the Israelis, although it did not reveal when, or whether, they were planning to return.
It comes after fighting last week claimed its first victim from Gondar’s Jewish community, 36-year-old Girmew Gete. According to Israeli media, he had been waiting, along with his partner and young daughter, to immigrate to the Jewish state for 24 years.
His death prompted calls for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately airlift some 14,000 Ethiopians with Jewish roots to Israel.
Israeli basketball prospect Deni Avdija is set to become the country’s highest-profile pick ever in Wednesday night’s NBA draft. Avdija, 19, is a 6’9″ forward for Maccabi Tel Aviv and also plays on the Israeli national team.
He is considered a potential top-five pick in the draft, and is expected to be the third Israeli to play in the NBA, following in the footsteps of Omri Casspi and Gal Mekel.
“I just want to be the best Deni Avdija I can be,” he said. “I just don’t want to be compared to anybody.”
Israel’s second draft prospect is Hapoel Tel Aviv point guard Yam Madar, although it is not definitive that he will be selected by a team.
- The United Nations Stands in the Way of Arab-Israeli Peace (David May, Richard Goldberg, Foundation for Defense of Democracies)
- A Watershed Moment for the Middle East (Shoshana Bryen, Newsweek)
- “The Struggle for Palestine” (Dr. Asaf Romirowsky, Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies)
- Moderna’s Israeli Medical Exec ‘Awed’ by Vaccine Results (Abigail Klein Leichman, Israel21C)
- ‘Asia’ Wins Ophir Award For Best Picture, Becomes Israel’s Oscar Entry (NoCamels)
