JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters celebrated the election of Donald Trump as president, hailing what a leader of the Israeli settler movement called an ally who would support them “unconditionally.”

Congratulate Republican TrumpNetanyahu said the former president had made “the greatest comeback in history.”

“Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America,” he said in a statement echoed by religious party leaders. far-right nationalists in his speech. coalition.

Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has been fighting Israel for more than a year in Gaza, said the elections were a matter for the American people, but it called for an end to the United States’ “blind support” for Israel.

“We urge Trump to learn from President Joe Biden’s mistakes,” Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

The result is a relief for Netanyahu’s coalition, which has clashed with Biden’s Democratic administration over conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon that have fueled protests around the world and left Israel increasingly isolated on the international scene.

As the world watched the U.S. election Tuesday night, Netanyahu took the opportunity to dismiss his Defense Minister Yoav Gallantone of the privileged interlocutors of the Biden administration and the American military within the government.

“The current administration has placed its trust in Minister Gallant,” said Ephraim Sneh, a former brigadier general in the Israeli army.

Gallant’s removal, amid a multi-front war that threatens to escalate into a full-scale confrontation with Iran, drew protesters to Israel’s streets but was welcomed by Netanyahu’s camp.

Israel Katz, Gallant’s replacement who served as foreign minister, said Trump’s victory would strengthen the alliance with Israel and help secure the return of the 101 hostages still in Gaza.