Israel's Netanyahu Congratulates Biden on US Election Win, Thanks Trump

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu as they pose at the White House in Washington, US, March 25, 2019. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu as they pose at the White House in Washington, US, March 25, 2019. (Reuters)
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Israel's Netanyahu Congratulates Biden on US Election Win, Thanks Trump

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu as they pose at the White House in Washington, US, March 25, 2019. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu as they pose at the White House in Washington, US, March 25, 2019. (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden after his election win saying he looked forward to working together with the new administration and strengthening the two countries’ alliance.

“Congratulations @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. Joe, we’ve had a long & warm personal relationship for nearly 40 years, and I know you as a great friend of Israel. I look forward to working with both of you to further strengthen the special alliance between the US and Israel,” Netanyahu said on his Twitter account, which still carries a photograph of him and incumbent US President Donald Trump at its head.

“Thank you @realDonaldTrump for the friendship you have shown the state of Israel and me personally, for recognizing Jerusalem and the Golan, for standing up to Iran, for the historic peace accords and for bringing the American-Israeli alliance to unprecedented heights,” Netanyahu tweeted.

Netanyahu’s message came hours after many world leaders and some Israeli ministers had congratulated Democrat Biden, even as Trump refused to concede and pressed ahead with legal fights against the outcome.

The right-wing Netanyahu’s particularly close ties with Trump followed an acrimonious relationship with his predecessor Barack Obama, which some critics have said had alienated Democrats and compromised US bipartisan support for Israel.

Friction between Netanyahu and the new administration could arise given Biden’s pledge to restore US involvement in the Iran nuclear deal and a likely opposition by the White House to Israeli settlement of occupied land where Palestinians seek statehood.

Having been in lockstep with Trump for the past four years, Netanyahu could face policy whiplash - although it may be delayed by the incoming Biden administration’s need to deal first with the COVID-19 crisis and US economic woes.



7 Dead, Dozens Injured after Commercial Bus Overturns in Mississippi

A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
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7 Dead, Dozens Injured after Commercial Bus Overturns in Mississippi

A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)

Seven people, including a six-year-old and 16-year-old, were killed when a bus overturned east of Vicksburg, Mississippi, early Saturday, Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey said.
The two young victims were siblings, Reuters quoted the coroner as saying.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol said the incident took place around 12:40 a.m. on Interstate 20 near Bovina in Warren County when a 2018 Volvo commercial passenger bus traveling westbound left the roadway and overturned.
Thirty-seven passengers were transported to different hospitals with unknown injuries, the agency said. It said the co-driver was not transported.
"Anytime you have people injured or killed, it's tragic but when you have a situation like this where you have multiple fatalities and multiple injuries, it makes it even worse," Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace told an ABC affiliate.
Huskey said most of the passengers on the bus were Latin American.