Bibi bawling his eyes out waiting for Biden's phone call

[yankeedoodle]

Israel supporters are freaking out over the fact Biden hasn't called Netanyahu yet
Almost a month into the Biden presidency Benjamin Netanyahu is still sitting by the phone waiting for his first phone call.
https://mondoweiss.net/2021/02/israel-supporters-are-freaking-out-over-the-fact-biden-hasnt-called-netanyahu-yet/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-email-mailpoet

Joe Biden has been president for almost a month, but he still hasn't called the leader of America's closest ally yet.

"Is Biden Ghosting Netanyahu?," Yahoo wonders. "Call Me Maybe?" is a headline writer's joke at The Guardian.

"To Netanyahu's sorrow, it seems that the Americans are very interested in proving that Biden is not such a close personal friend of the prime minister," laments a columnist at the Israeli paper Makor Rishon.

Former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon even tweeted the Prime Minister's number at Biden's Twitter account and called him to phone Netanyahu.

https://twitter.com/dannydanon/status/1359506734218416133?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1359506734218416133%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmondoweiss.net%2F2021%2F02%2Fisrael-supporters-are-freaking-out-over-the-fact-biden-hasnt-called-netanyahu-yet%2F

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has downplayed the lack of communication. "They spoke actually during the transition," he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer this week. "I think one of the first calls the president had was with the Prime Minister, and I've talked to my Israeli counterparts on multiple occasions already."

It's difficult to think any of this will end up meaning anything in terms of United States policy. In that same interview with Blitzer, Blinken said that Biden considers Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel, refused to criticize Israel's illegal annexation of the Golan Heights, or distance the new administration from the outlook of Trump's team.

"Look, leaving aside the legalities of that question, as a practical matter the Golan is very important to Israel's security, as long as Assad is in power in Syria, as long as long as Iran is present in Syria," Blinken told Blitzer. "Militia groups backed by Iran, the Assad regime itself. All of these pose a significant security threat to Israel and as a practical matter, control of the Golan in that situation I think remains of real importance to Israel's security."

"To reflect on how outrageous this is, imagine if Iran captured the Syrian Golan Heights using Netanyahu's threats as a pretext — Would Blinken ever excuse it?," tweeted political analyst Omar Baddar in response to these assertions. "Of course not! Only Israeli land theft is magically justifiable in the name of 'security'."

After Danon shared Netanyahu's number with Biden, former state department Middle East analyst David Aaron Miller replied. "Memo to all interested parties. A call will come. But a clear message is being sent. Netanyahu was Trump's 3rd call. To quote Dorothy, we're not in Kansas anymore."

It's probably worth remembering that, according to the movie, Dorothy was very much still in Kansas. The whole thing was a dream.

[yankeedoodle]

Biden press sec Psaki insists lack of contact with Israel's Netanyahu 'not an intentional diss'
https://www.rt.com/usa/515473-bidens-silence-netanyahu-not-diss/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome

The Biden administration sought to downplay questions about a perceived cooling of relations between the US and Israel, saying the lack of a call between the countries' leaders was "not an intentional diss."

White House Press secretary Jen Psaki said during a Friday press briefing that a call between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would take place "soon," but was unable to give a specific time.

"It is not an intentional diss. Prime Minister Netanyahu is someone the president has known for some time," Psaki said. "It is just a reflection of the fact that we've been here for three and a half weeks. He's not called every single global leader yet, and he is eager to do that in the weeks ahead."

Since taking office on January 20, Biden has managed to call the leaders of Russia, China, Mexico, Britain, India, France, Germany, Japan, and South Korea, suggesting Israel has fallen down the pecking order of US priorities.

The former Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, asked why the newly elected president had yet to make a call to what he dubbed "the closest ally of the US."

https://twitter.com/dannydanon/status/1359506734218416133?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1359506734218416133%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fusa%2F515473-bidens-silence-netanyahu-not-diss%2F

Both Donald Trump and his predecessor, Barack Obama, with whom Biden served as vice president, spoke to Netanyahu within days of taking office.

"It's a clear sign of displeasure from President Biden," said Dani Dayan, a former Israel consul-general in New York, adding that, "Netanyahu was perceived in Washington for the last 12 years as almost a card-carrying member of the Republican Party."

The lack of contact between Biden and the Israeli leader has fueled speculation in the Israeli, Middle Eastern, and US media that the Biden administration is signaling a cooling of relations between the two nations, in contrast to the perceived proximity between Netanyahu and former president Trump.

One headline even asked, "Is Biden ghosting Netanyahu?"

For his part, the Israeli prime minister has sought to downplay the significance of the perceived slight. Biden "is making calls to world leaders according to the order he sees fit," Netanyahu said. "The Israel-US alliance is strong, and so is our friendship of almost 40 years, though we may not agree on everything."