Netanyahu and Trump hold second phone call in 2 weeks

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JERUSALEM (JTA) — President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone, their second conversation in two weeks.

“The leaders discussed the threat from Iran, as well as other critical bilateral and regional issues” during the Sunday evening phone call, the White House said in a statement. It did not release a more detailed readout of the call, however.

Netanyahu said Sunday during a cornerstone-laying ceremony for 12 new factories in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon that he and Trump spoke about “the historic opportunity we have in the coming months, including recognizing the Jordan Valley as the eastern border of Israel,” the Kan public broadcaster reported.

They also talked about a security pact between Israel and the United States, Netanyahu said, according to The Jerusalem Post.

These are things that “we could only dream about, but which now we have the opportunity to implement,” he also said.

Netanyahu said he told Blue and White head Benny Gantz that it is important for them to form a unity government in order to take advantage of the opportunities offered by Trump.

In the last Trump-Netanyahu call, on Nov. 19, Netanyahu thanked the U.S. president for the decision to no longer call West Bank settlements illegal.

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