Does Biden ignore Netanyahu? In Israel, diplomatic concerns are growing.

But three weeks into his tenure, while Biden worked deeply at Rolodex for world leaders without contacting Netanyahu’s office on Balfour Street, much of the political class in Israel is prepared to declare it a total diplomatic disdain. In the president’s “thundering silence”, some see a tepid stumble that has long feared the warm embrace Netanyahu enjoyed with Trump. Security analyst Yossi Melman wrote in the Haaretz daily: “Biden and his aides aim to tell Netanyahu, ‘You are not special.’” “The personal relationship and chemistry you had with Donald Trump not only fails to boost your standing in Washington, it is. Constitute an obstacle. ” Small villages in Ireland and India celebrated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as few world leaders contemplate it. In the elections. (The Washington Post) Officials in both capitals rejected the notion that Biden’s call record contained any coded reprimand to Israel or its prime minister. The White House says Biden is calling region by region and the Middle East is coming, and the president’s first calls to Mexico and Canada and to European and Asian capitals addressed issues such as migration, trade, climate change, NATO and containment. China, according to reports. The epidemic and economic crisis also drained the White House. “There is no reason for any drama,” said Dan Shapiro, the US ambassador to Israel during the Obama administration, who expects Netanyahu’s phone to ring soon. “Biden took office at a time of national emergency that no president has faced since Roosevelt. His calls reflect those priorities.” Netanyahu himself played down the likelihood that he would be insulted by the new president. The prime minister indicated that he and Biden have known each other for decades and that he called With Biden shortly after announcing the election winner in November, Netanyahu said, “He is making calls with world leaders in the order he deems appropriate.” He said when asked about Biden during his appearance with the Greek prime minister in Jerusalem this week. The Israeli-American alliance is strong, and so is our nearly 40-year friendship, although we may not agree on everything. ”Asked when Biden made the call, White House press secretary Jane Psaki said Thursday that he“ looks forward to speaking with Netanyahu. He is clearly someone with whom he has a long-term relationship, and it is clear that there is an important relationship between the United States and Israel on the security front and as a major partner in the region. Psaki said, but he will talk to him soon. She added that she has no specific date or time, as Netanyahu has built his image as a political giant, in part by promoting quick-contact relationships with leaders around the world and in Washington in particular. In three previous elections, he boasted that he had led a hotline soon to Trump via then-US ambassador David Friedman, the former president’s bankruptcy attorney, and appeared the White House willing to help. Several of the major concessions to Netanyahu, such as support for annexing the Golan Heights, were announced shortly before Israeli voters went to the polls. “There is no doubt that he is unhappy with this,” said Aviv Bushinsky, Netanyahu’s former chief of staff and a media consultant. “I think Netanyahu will view this as disrespectful.” The US embassy in Jerusalem declined to comment. The conversation reached the non-phone call on Wednesday when Israel’s former UN envoy, Danny Danon, tweeted a list of countries with which Biden had already contacted leaders and attached a number to the prime minister’s office (a number that was dismissed, as it turns out). Is it now time to contact the leader of Israel, the closest ally of the United States? He asked, those years were fraught with sniping on Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including the announcement of a major settlement expansion in the midst of the visit of then Vice President Biden. Tension culminated when Obama chose not to veto an anti-settlement resolution in the United Nations Security Council at the end of his term. Concerns only increased as the new president held many of his senior diplomatic and security jobs with Obama alumni as well. Biden also promised to resume nuclear negotiations with Iran, another point of contention from the earlier era. “It’s starting to sound like that old music again,” said Pushinsky. While both sides said that a long, personal relationship between two leaders who relate to each other, “my old friend,” would ease tensions, the growing inconsistencies around the first phone call underscored fears that Israel had indeed diminished in importance. Bushinsky indicated that the Israelis are in full agreement with the status accorded to their leaders in the United States, by far the most important international partner of Israel. In non-pandemic times, the public here has been waiting for the prime minister’s first visit to Washington and pondering the details of the protocol. Did they fire the cannons? Did he stay at the Blair House? Bushinski said, “The Israelis care about this stuff.” Now he can’t go there, but even a phone call? It is an issue. ”