Biden has yet to call Netanyahu

US President Joe Biden has apparently called many world leaders since his inauguration on 20 January, but he has yet to call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, news agencies have reported. Although several officials from Biden’s administration have visited Israel or spoken to their Israeli counterparts, none have visited or contacted Netanyahu’s office.

According to the Times of Israel, for example, new Secretary of State Antony Blinken has held talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi. It also reported that General Kenneth McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, has visited Israel.

Unlike his predecessors, said the Jerusalem Post, the US president did not call the Israeli Prime Minister during his first week in office.

The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jareeda said that McKenzie’s visit and meeting with the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defence Forces, Aviv Kochavi, without meeting Netanyahu’s military secretary as usual is a sign of cold relations between Biden and the Israeli leader.

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