On the surface, the phone call was not really that important.[_link]

— Jerusalem Post Opinion (@JPostOpinion) February 18, 2021

[links added in article are mine - Oui]

The real message Netanyahu should take from Biden's phone call

There were any number of ways it could have gone.

In 2001, George W. Bush called Ehud Barak seven days after the inauguration for what was described as an "introductory conversation" that lasted a mere seven minutes. Bush knew that Barak was up for re-election in a matter of weeks and was predicted to lose. Nevertheless, the call was made.

In 2009, Barack Obama called Ehud Olmert the day after the inauguration, a sign of how important the Middle East was to his foreign policy agenda.

In 2017, Donald Trump called Benjamin Netanyahu two days after the inauguration, a sign of how important the relationship with Israel was and would become for his administration.

Joe Biden surpassed them all. He took his time and waited almost a month - until Wednesday night - to place his first phone call to Jerusalem.

...
But as the days dragged on and the call didn't come, it was clear that a message was being sent, and that it was personal. This wasn't about a change in policy, like when the White House intentionally sought to create daylight with Israel during the Obama era, but rather something simpler: the Biden administration wanted to show that it won't play according to Netanyahu's beat.

The nuanced differences in how Biden, Netanyahu see their call - analysis Lahav Harkov

Biden condemns Israel by visit in 2010: 1,600 homes to be built in East Jerusalem settlement

In an unusually strong statement issued after he arrived 90 minutes late for a dinner with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden said: "I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units."

He said the blueprint for Ramat Shlomo, an ultra-Orthodox settlement in an area of the West Bank annexed to Jerusalem, "undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the constructive discussions I've had in Israel".

Syria Expendable In Joint US-Israel ME Power Schemes

'Sapere aude'