Benjamin Netanyahu says he and Donald Trump ‘see eye to eye’ on Iran
Foreign leaders are looking at the US to see how the upcoming change of administration will affect America’s stance on Israel and Gaza.
Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have spoken since the election. Pic: Reuters
Benjamin Netanyahu says he and Donald Trump “see eye to eye” on Iran.
Israel’s prime minister said he has spoken to the US president-elect three times since the election with the aim of tightening the alliance between their nations.
“These were good and very important conversations,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement.
“We see eye to eye on the Iranian threat in all its components, and the danger posed by it. We also see the great opportunities before Israel, in the field of peace and its expansion, and in other fields.”
Israel and Iran have traded strikes in the last year since the Hamas attacks, with neither side appearing to want a full-scale conflict.
The past year has seen Iranian proxy forces including in Gaza (Hamas), Lebanon (Hezbollah) and Yemen (Houthi rebels) attack Israeli and other Western assets in the region as part of the so-called Axis of Resistance in retaliation for the situation in Gaza.
Now, eyes are on the US as to how the upcoming change of administration will affect the war and how Mr Trump will work with Mr Netanyahu.
President Joe Biden is due to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the White House on Tuesday.
Mr Netanyahu’s words come as Israeli strikes in Lebanon and northern Gaza killed dozens of people on Sunday, including children.
At least 23 people, including seven children, were killed in an airstrike on the Aalmat village north of the Lebanese capital, Beirut – far from areas where Hezbollah are believed to have a major presence.
Speaking on Sunday, Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz claimed Israel has defeated Hezbollah and called the killing of leader Hassan Nasrallah the crowning achievement.
In northern Gaza, an Israeli strike in the Jabaliya refugee camp killed at least 24 people, according to the director of a nearby hospital that received the bodies.
