President Trump congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday as the Israeli prime minister was on the brink of reelection, saying his victory was a good sign for peace.
“I would like to congratulate him,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a rally in Texas. “That was a well fought-out race, I can tell you. But it looks like Bibi has won that race.”
Netanyahu is on course to win a record fifth term in office despite being pushed by a centrist challenger.
The Trump administration has been at work on a Middle East peace plan. The effort was led by Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, and is reported to be complete.
Trump said Netanyahu’s reelection increased the prospects of progress towards peace.
Not everyone agrees. Netanyahu’s reelection will raise further fears that any room for compromise and recognition of Palestinian claims to statehood are less likely. During the final days of the campaign, he suggested a new government would annex Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank — a move certain to further enrage Palestinian sentiment.
“Everybody said you can’t have peace in the Middle East with Israel and the Palestinians,” he said. “I think we have a chance. I think we have now a better chance with Bibi having won.”
Netanyahu made much during a bitterly fought campaign of his friendship with the American president.
Critics have frequently accused Trump of inflaming tensions in the region, first by moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing the divided city as the capital of Israel, and then by backing Israeli claims of sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which were annexed from Syria in the 1980s.
The most recent attempt at U.S.-brokered peace between Israel and the Palestinians ended in deadlock in 2014.
