Benjamin Netanyahu seeks 'stronger than ever' ties with Trump

Netanyahu congratulated his "friend" Trump in a tweet before his inauguration

Jerusalem, Jan 20: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today he wants relations with the United States to be "stronger than ever" after Donald Trump becomes president.

Netanyahu congratulated his "friend" Trump in a tweet before his inauguration, saying he was looking forward "to working closely with you to make the alliance between Israel & USA stronger than ever".

Meanwhile, Israel's leftwing newspaper Haaretz reported today that security services have presented Netanyahu with a series of scenarios about potential Palestinian violence if Trump follows through on his promise to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Such a transfer would break with the consensus of the vast majority of the international community, which does not recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Israel captured east Jerusalem during the 1967 war and later annexed it, declaring all of the city its unified capital.

Also today, Israeli forces arrested five Palestinians who were taking protesting in the occupied West Bank against Israeli plans to annex Maale Adumim, a settlement east of Jerusalem, activists said. Rightwing Israeli politicians have said Trump's election is an opportunity to increase settlement building and push forward plans to annex Maale Adumim.

AFP