Even though interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid admitted defeat, President Biden has yet to phone Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on his victory in this week’s Israeli elections, Fox News informed.
Netanyahu will speak with President Biden “soon,” according to a spokesperson for the National Security Council. However, the spokesperson refrained from referring to Netanyahu as the prime minister-elect, instead saying that “Mr. Netanyahu, after winning a plurality in the Knesset, is likely to be tasked with forming a government over the coming days.”
The spokeswoman also said that the president has known Bibi Netanyahu for a long time and has collaborated with him. When Netanyahu was Israel’s prime minister a year ago, they collaborated extensively, and they reconnected in July during the president’s visit.
This week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Lapid to express his concerns about the “heightened tensions” in the West Bank and to commend Israel for its free and fair elections, and to praise the prime minister for his partnership.
However, only Thomas Nides, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, has so far thanked Netanyahu directly, telling Netanyahu on Thursday that they had a “nice call” and that they are looking forward to “working together to maintain the unbreakable link.”
Although Jair Bolsonaro has not yet formally conceded defeat, Biden and Blinken were quick to recognize Brazil’s newly elected President Lula da Silva, only giving his chief of staff permission to start the transfer. and Blinken contacted Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, on Friday to discuss “joint measures” to improve Palestinian security and reaffirm the two-state solution.
The discrepancy in how each result was received sets a troubling tone for the administration as the new Netanyahu administration takes office: According to a source acquainted with private conversations, senior administration figures are reluctant to acknowledge Netanyahu won the election.
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