JERUSALEM (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday congratulated Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu after his right-wing Likud party came out on top in a parliamentary election, Netanyahu said.
Biden, according to a post by Netanyahu on Twitter, said the alliance between the United States and Israel was stronger than ever.
Netanyahu said he told Biden that they can “achieve more peace agreements and deal with the threat of Iranian aggression.”
Israel, during Netanyahu’s previous term, normalized ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain under U.S. sponsorship.
Israel’s fifth election in less than four years confirmed a comeback for Netanyahu, now buoyed by smaller ultranationalist and religious parties. His victorious bloc includes lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, a West Bank settler and former member of Kach, a Jewish militant group on Israeli and U.S. terrorist watchlists.
While Washington has publicly reserved judgment pending the new Israeli coalition’s formation, a State Department spokesperson on Wednesday emphasised the countries’ “shared values.”
(Reporting by Emily RoseEditing by Ari Rabinovitch and Leslie Adler)
