US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Thursday with Prime Minister Yair Lapid following the elections in Israel.
“Spoke with Prime Minister Yair Lapid to commend Israel for its free and fair elections. I thanked him for his partnership and underscored the ironclad US-Israel relationship,” tweeted Blinken.
“I also emphasized the urgent need to de-escalate the situation in the West Bank,” added the Secretary of State.
The conversation between Lapid and Blinken came hours after the Central Elections Committee submitted its report with the preliminary results of the election. The results will be finalized next week, after recounts of contested ballot boxes are conducted and investigations into any claims of fraud completed.
After all the votes were counted, the right-wing bloc won 64 seats and the left-Arab camp won 56 seats.
Before Blinken’s call to Lapid, US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides congratulated Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to be tasked by President Isaac Herzog with forming Israel’s next government
Nides announced via Twitter that he called Netanyahu to congratulate him, adding he is “looking forward to working” with the new Israeli government.
“Good call just now with Benjamin Netanyahu. I congratulated him on his victory and told him I look forward to working together to maintain the unbreakable bond.”
While President Joe Biden has yet to speak to Netanyahu, White House officials said on Thursday that Biden is expected to call the Prime Minister-elect in the coming days and congratulate him on his re-election.
The officials said that Biden is very busy with the midterm elections that will be held on Tuesday but "the conversation with Netanyahu is very important to him and will take place within days."