Biden, World Leaders Congratulate Israel’s New Government  

World leaders wasted no time in congratulating Israel’s new prime minister, Naftali Bennett, and alternate prime minister and foreign minister, Yair Lapid, after the two managed to swear in their coalition government Sunday night. “I look forward to working with [Bennett] to strengthen all aspects of the close and enduring relationship between our two nations,” United States President Joe Biden said in a statement Sunday, before also calling the new leader on the phone. “Germany and Israel are connected by a unique friendship that we want to strengthen further,” Chancellor Angela Merkel tweeted, expressing hope for cooperation with Bennett, while the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson offered his congratulations and noted it was an “exciting time” for the relationship between the two countries. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were also among world leaders to issue their salutations. Israel’s new administration also received some unfriendly welcomes, as Iran, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority all published statements expressing varying degrees of skepticism and hostility.