Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the "Iranian threat" in his first telephone interview Wednesday (February 17th) with new US President Joe Biden since joining the White House last month. 

"The discussion was warm, friendly and lasted about an hour," said Benjamin Netanyahu on his official Twitter account, adding that he addressed the issues of the Middle East peace "agreements", the "Iranian threat" and the management of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The two leaders referred to their long-standing personal relationship and said they would work together to continue to strengthen the alliance between Israel and the United States," said Benjamin Netanyahu's services in Jerusalem.

"Good conversation", summed up Joe Biden in the Oval Office in Washington, without commenting on these exchanges.

Controversy

Benjamin Netanyahu had previously called Joe Biden's predecessor in the White House, Donald Trump, a “best friend” that Israel had never had at the head of the United States, the first ally of the Hebrew state.

Almost a month after arriving at the White House on January 20, Joe Biden had still not spoken to Benjamin Netanyahu, which had sparked heated controversy in the Israeli press at a time when the new American administration takes its marks.

And Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations under Donald Trump, accused the Biden administration of "snubbing" a "friend like Israel".

Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu "discussed the progress of the peace accords," the Israeli leader's office added, wording that could refer to both the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the normalization agreements between Israel and countries Arabs.

The United Arab Emirates announced last summer the normalization of its relations with Israel, followed later by Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

But, with the arrival of the Biden administration in the White House, analysts questioned whether the United States would actually push other countries in the region to embark on the normalization train.

"Maximum pressure"

One of the key countries, seen as a potential candidate for standardization, is Saudi Arabia.

In this regard, the Biden administration has already announced its intention to "recalibrate" its relations with Saudi Arabia by changing its interlocutor from Crown Prince Mohammed ben Salman (MBS) to King Salman.

One of the crucial issues for Saudi Arabia, as for Israel, remains the question of Iran's regional influence and its nuclear program.

The Jewish state has never hidden its opposition to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and had supported the "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran led by the Trump administration, which unilaterally withdrew the United States from this agreement to restore sanctions.

President Biden has pledged to return to the agreement, on condition, however, that Iran first resigns to its commitments.

A comeback that would be a "bad thing," Israeli army chief Aviv Kochavi recently said.

With AFP

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