"benjamin-netanyahu"

He had been trying for the past 28 days to build a coalition after the fourth inconclusive general election in two years.

Netanyahu said he and Biden had "a long and warm personal relationship for nearly 40 years, and I know you as a great friend of Israel."

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain became the third and fourth Arab states to agree to normalise ties with Israel, following Egypt's peace deal with Israel in 1979 and a 1994 pact with Jordan.