Biden speaks to Netanyahu in his first call to a Middle East leader

The two last spoke in November shortly after the US presidential election

US President Joe Biden (R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pictured in 2016, spoke before this week's meeting to discuss the Iran nuclear deal. AFP

US President Joe Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call on Wednesday – his first with a Middle East leader since taking office.

The Israeli prime minister’s office tweeted that the two leaders discussed a range of issues in the hour-long call, including the Abraham Accord, Iran and the coronavirus pandemic.

“The two leaders noted their long-standing personal connection and said that they would work together to continue strengthening the steadfast alliance between Israel and the US,” Mr Netanyahu's office said.

It said they “discussed the future advancement of the peace accords, the Iranian threat and regional challenges, and agreed to continue their dialogue".

Although US presidents typically call Israeli leaders shortly after taking office, Mr Biden was in the Oval Office for nearly a month before contacting Mr Netanyahu.

But the White House has repeatedly played down suggestions that the delay was a snub to the right-wing Israeli leader.

The two leaders last spoke on November 12, when Mr Biden called Mr Netanyahu shortly after winning the US election.

Israel will hold another round of its elections on March 23.

The Netanyahu government has vigorously voiced its opposition to the US re-entering the Iran nuclear deal, which Mr Biden has indicated he would do if Tehran returned to compliance.

When Mr Biden served as vice president to former president Barack Obama, Mr Netanyahu accepted an invitation from Republican leaders to address Congress, where he criticised the administration’s negotiations with Iran.

The talks ultimately led to the nuclear deal signed between Tehran and world powers in 2015.

Former president Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Iran deal in 2018 and made other moves that were favourable to Israel.

He moved the US embassy to Jerusalem and rescinded a decades-old legal opinion that found Israel's West Bank settlements in breach of international law.

Mr Trump also recognised Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights.

His administration also oversaw the Abraham Accord, where the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco established diplomatic ties with Israel – a treaty that Mr Biden has also praised.

Biden meets Middle East leaders - in pictures