Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has greeted American President-Elect Joe Biden as a “great friend of Israel” in a message of congratulations on Twitter.

He said, “Joe, we’ve had a long and warm personal relationship for nearly 40 years, and I know you as a great friend of Israel.

“I look forward to working with both you to further strengthen the special alliance between the US and Israel”.

He thanked President Donald Trump for “the friendship you have shown the state of Israel and me personally, for recognising Jerusalem and the Golan, for standing up to Iran, for the historic peace accords and for bringing the American-Israeli alliance to unprecedented heights.”

Although final votes are still to be counted from Tuesday’s poll, Mr Biden has been widely accepted inside and outside the USA to have taken an unassailable lead, securing the 270 majority of electoral college votes with 279 to Mr Trump’s 214.

But Mr Trump has yet to concede, promising to continue legal action to challenge what he claims are irregularities in the poll that has deprived him of victory.

One of Mr Netanyahu’s cabinet, Settlements Minister Tzachi Hanegbi last week voiced fears that Mr Biden might return to the international agreement with Iran to limit its nuclear programme which Mr Trump pulled out of.

“I see that as something that will lead to a confrontation between Israel and Iran,” the minister said.

Mr Biden was critical of plans by the Israeli government to annex parts of the West Bank earlier this year, which were put on hold after the peace deal with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, that was signed on the White House lawn.

Haile Soifer, executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, said,  “We’ve chosen to restore the soul of our nation with President-elect Joe Biden and are incredibly proud that overwhelming support among Jewish Americans ensured his victory in critical swing states.”

But the executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Matt Brooks, backed the legal manoeuvres.

“If one party in an election chooses to petition the courts to adjudicate the results and/or issues of fraud and electoral integrity, then the process should be allowed to continue. That is democracy and that is why the system was created,” he told JNS (Jewish News Syndicate).

According to one poll, Mr Trump increased his support among Jewish voters from 24 per cent in 2016 to 30 per cent, while Mr Biden secured 69 per cent.

David Harris, the longstanding executive director of one of the USA’s best-known advocacy organisations, the American Jewish Committee said the vision of the USA as one country with one destiny had been “sorely tested as never before”.

He added, “Reuniting the country, restoring lost faith in each other and in our common destiny, must be the first order of business for President Biden and his administration.”

Marie van der Zyl, the president of the Board of Deputies, offering her congratulations to Mr Biden, said, “After a divisive and tumultuous few years in American and global politics, we hope that he will lead global efforts to tackle Coronavirus, strengthen ties with allies like the UK and heal the wounds between different groups in American society.

“We also hope that he will continue in the strong tradition of bipartisan support for the world’s only Jewish state, the state of Israel, and reverse the rise of antisemitism and racism in America and beyond.”

Her predecessor Jonathan Arkush was criticised by some in the Jewish community for offering congratulations to Mr Trump on behalf of the Board four years ago.

Israel's president Reuven Rivlin told Mr Biden he was pleased to " welcome you to Jerusalem as Vice President and I look forward to welcoming you to Jerusalem as President of the United States.

"As a long-standing friend of Israel, you are now going to be the leader of the free world and of Israel’s closest and most important ally. Our bond is more than friendship. It is based on values, on our shared commitment to freedom and democracy."

He also thanked "President Trump for four years of partnership, strengthening Israel’s security" and the American people for their support and friendship,