Live Update
From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
White House says Biden’s first call with regional leader will be to Netanyahu
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki addresses questions regarding the fact that US President Joe Biden has yet to call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has raised some eyebrows in Israel and America.
“His first call with a leader in the region will be with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Psaki says.
“It will be soon. I don’t have an exact date for you, but it is soon. Stay tuned,” she says, adding that “Israel is of course an ally. Israel is a country where we have an important strategic security relationship, and our team is fully engaged — not at the head of state level quite yet, but very soon, but our team is fully engaged, having constant conversations at many levels with the Israelis.”