With Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's return to power, some of the leaders he worked with in his previous terms sent greetings.
The most prominent of them was Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Netanyahu was proud of his close relationship during the various election rounds.
Hearty congratulations to @netanyahu on the occasion of the formation of the government.
Looking forward to working together and strengthening our strategic partnership.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 29, 2022
Putin, who also spoke with Netanyahu a week ago, said that "we here in Russia deeply appreciate the personal and long-term contribution to strengthening the friendly relations between our countries."
Putin, who is known to be in an acute mental battle with the West and excluded from international forums because of the war in Ukraine, indirectly mentioned the Russian involvement in the region and Israel being part of the fabric of forces that is affected by it.
In the message, he expressed "hope that the new government under your leadership will continue the policy of strengthening Russian-Israeli cooperation in all areas for the well-being of our two peoples and in the interest of ensuring the peace and security of the Middle East."
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who heads the right-wing government and was re-elected for a second term about three years ago, also sent personal greetings to Netanyahu, among other things on the background of their close friendship.
Netanyahu was the first prime minister in 15 years to visit India officially, and Modi was the first Indian prime minister ever to visit Israel officially.
"Hearty congratulations to @netanyahu on the occasion of the formation of the government. Looking forward to working together and strengthening our strategic partnership," Modi tweeted, in Hebrew.
President Biden's administration - with whom Netanyahu has not yet worked as president - also sent congratulations, in the form of a tweet from the American ambassador Thomas R. Neides, who raised a virtual toast "to the rock-solid relations between Israel and the United States and to the bonds between them that cannot be broken."
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