Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is confronting a new diplomatic challenge with President Obama’s re-election. After publicly defying the Obama administration on West Bank settlements, pushing for a military attack on Iran, and even appearing to back Mitt Romney in the presidential race, Netanyahu is facing pressure from within his government to repair strained Israeli-U.S. ties. Hours after Obama’s victory, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai said: “This has not been a very good morning for Netanyahu.” Later in the day, Netanyahu staged a news conference with U.S. Ambassador Dan Shapiro to publicly congratulate Obama on his win.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “I want to congratulate President Obama on his re-election. I think the United States of America again demonstrated why it’s the greatest democracy on earth. The security relationship between the United States and Israel is rock solid, and I look forward to working with President Obama to further strengthen this relationship, and I look forward to working with him to advance our goals of peace and security.”

Netanyahu followed up his comments with a personal telephone call to Obama on Thursday.