US President Donald Trump has phoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on his re-election, Netanyahu says, thanking his ally for “tremendous support for Israel”.
Netanyahu tweeted that Trump had called him from Air Force One. The president was on a flight to Texas.
Netanyahu secured a clear path to re-election on Wednesday, and a record fifth term in office, with religious-rightist parties set to hand him a parliamentary majority despite a close contest against his main centrist challenger.
“Trump warmly congratulated (me) and the Israeli people,” Netanyahu tweeted on Wednesday.
“(I) thanked President Trump for his tremendous support for Israel, including recognition of Jerusalem and the Golan,” he said.
Breaking with decades of US policy and international consensus, Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017 and Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights last month.
Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem last May, further angering Palestinians.
Netanyahu said that, in the telephone call, he also thanked Trump for designating Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation on Monday.
In remarks to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said Netanyahu’s re-election improved the chances of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
“Everybody says you can’t have peace in the Middle East, with Israel and the Palestinians,” Trump said.
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