JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters celebrated Donald Trump’s election as president, hailing what a leader of the Israeli settler movement called an ally who would support them “unconditionally”.
Congratulating Republican Trump, Netanyahu said the former president had made “history’s greatest comeback”.
“Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America,” he said in a statement, which was echoed by the leaders of the hard-right nationalist religious parties in his coalition.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has been fighting Israel for more than a year in Gaza, said the election was a matter for the American people, but it called for an end to the “blind support” for Israel from the United States.
“We urge Trump to learn from (President Joe) Biden’s mistakes,” Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
The outcome is a relief for Netanyahu’s coalition, which has clashed with Biden’s Democratic administration over the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon that have fuelled protests worldwide and left Israel increasingly isolated internationally.
As the world watched the US election on Tuesday night, Netanyahu took the opportunity to sack his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, one of the Biden administration’s and the US military’s favoured interlocutors in the government.
“The current administration trusted minister Gallant,” said Ephraim Sneh, a former brigadier general in the Israeli army.
The removal of Gallant, in the middle of a multi-front war that threatens to escalate into a full-scale confrontation with Iran, drew protesters to the streets in Israel but was welcomed by Netanyahu’s camp.
Israel Katz, Gallant’s replacement who had been serving as foreign minister, said Trump’s victory would strengthen the alliance with Israel and help to secure return of the 101 hostages still remaining in Gaza.
