BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke yesterday with re-elected US President Obama by phone and reiterated the importance of working closely together.

News of the conversation between the two leaders was given by both the Prime Minister’s Office and the White House. Netanyahu congratulated Obama on his re-election, calling it a “vote of confidence in your leadership.” He then said that he “looked forward to continuing to work with the president to address the great challenges facing the United States and Israel and to advance peace and security in our region.”

Reiterating the point, Netanyahu said later in the day during a visit to Ashdod, “The alliance between Israel and the United States is strong. We have a strategic partnership. We have cooperation in all areas, but especially in the security sphere. There, cooperation is deep, broad and fundamental.”

The White House said that President Obama made 13 phone calls to world leaders, including Netanyahu, returning their congratulatory messages. A statement said, “In each call, he thanked his counterparts for their friendship and partnership thus far, and expressed his desire to continue close cooperation moving ahead.”

Underscoring the common concerns facing Israel and the United States, the US State Department yesterday announced that it had imposed sanctions on four Iranian individuals and five entities for censorship, including jamming satellite broadcasts and blocking Internet access. Commenting on the decision, the first foreign policy move since Tuesday’s election, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, “With the measures we are taking today, we draw the world’s attention to the scope of the regime’s insidious actions, which oppress its own people and violate Iran’s own laws and international obligations.”