White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be the first leader in the Middle East to receive a call from President Joe Biden. She added that the call will take place “soon” because Israel has been and remains an American ally.
“His first call with a leader in the region will be with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Psaki said. “It will be soon, I don’t have an exact day, but it is soon,” she said.
“Israel is, of course, an ally; Israel is a country where we have an important security relationship, and our team is fully engaged – not at the ‘head of state’ level quite yet – but our teams are fully engaged, having constant conversations at many levels with the Israelis.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken twice with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has spoken twice with Israel’s National Security Adviser and head of Israel’s National Security Council Meir Ben-Shabbat.
Eventually, America’s president is likely to pick up the phone too.