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Netanyahu, in a statement issued by his office, said Trump had invited him to visit the White House in February, although a final date was not yet set. They discussed the Iran nuclear deal, the "peace process with the Palestinians," and other issues," the Israeli leader said, adding that he had "expressed his desire to work closely . . . with no daylight between the United States and Israel."
The White House provided no initial details of the call, which was scheduled to last 30 minutes. Trump characterized it to reporters gathered to witnesses the swearing in of his new White House staff.
Speaking at that event, Trump said that he would meet soon with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, both of whom he spoke with by telephone on Saturday. A Mexico meeting may come as early as the end of this month, White House officials said.
"We're going to start renegotiating about NAFTA and immigration and security on the border," Trump said. "Mexico has been terrific. . .I think we're going to have a very good result." NAFTA is the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump has said is unfair to the United States; both Trudeau and Pena Nieto have said they are willing to discuss its terms.
Trump's first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader, however, will come Friday, when he receives British Prime Minister Theresa May at the White House.
In a statement Sunday, May's government said the meeting would "primarily be an opportunity to get to know one another and to establish the basis for a productive working relationship." The statement said May would also address a weekend meeting of Republican lawmakers that Trump is also scheduled to attend.
May, who is struggling to implement her country's vote to leave the European Union - is seeking a strong bilateral trade relationship with the United States as she prepares for EU negotiations.
Earlier on Sunday, Netanyahu tweeted that "Stopping the Iranian threat, and the threat reflected in the bad nuclear agreement with Iran, continues to be a supreme goal of Israel."
Netanyahu also met with his security cabinet on Sunday, telling them that he would allow continued construction of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem, according to Israeli media accounts.
Those settlements are considered illegal by most of the world. The Obama administration called them "illegitimate" and "obstacles to peace." Israel disputed this.
On Sunday, Jerusalem's construction committee approved 566 housing units in east Jerusalem settlements.
Meanwhile, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said that Trump was a "true friend" to Israel, referring to a reported statement by Trump press secretary Sean Spicer that the administration was at the "very beginning stages" of discussing a move of the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
"We will offer them all the assistance necessary," Barkat said in a statement. "The U.S. has sent a message to the world that it recognizes Jerusalem as the united capital of Israel."
No country in the world has its Israel embassy in Jerusalem, which is also claimed by the Palestinians as their capital. While Congress long ago passed a resolution ordering the move, both Republican and Democratic presidents have repeatedly waived the order on national security grounds.
Trump pledged during his campaign to move the embassy, and his designated ambassador to Israel, New York bankruptcy lawyer David Friedman, has called the move was a "big priority" for the new administration.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with Jordanian King Abdullah II on Sunday to discuss what to do if Trump makes good on the promised move. Jordan plays an important role in Jerusalem as a caretaker of the holy Muslim sites in the eastern side of the city.
Abbas said in a statement after his meeting with the king, "We wish two thing of the new American administration: First, to stop talks about moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem; and second, to get involved in conducting serious negotiations between Palestine and Israel to reach a political solution which is for the best interest of Palestinians, Israelis and the whole region."
In his confirmation hearing, secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson called Israel "our most important ally in the region," and criticized former president Barack Obama for undermining Israeli security, but did not directly address the embassy question.
Tillerson's confirmation was all but assured on Sunday, when a pair of Republican senators who had expressed concerns about him announced they will vote to confirm him. Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, two traditional GOP hawks who have voiced skepticism about Tillerson's ties to Russia, released a joint statement saying that after much thought, they have decided to back him.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans to vote Monday afternoon on Tillerson. Regardless of the outcome, his nomination will move to the full Senate floor for a vote, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said last week.
While much of the drama about Tillerson's fate has faded, there is still the question of how Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., will vote in the committee. Rubio grilled Tillerson about Russia during his confirmation hearing and seemed dissatisfied with some of his responses.
In appearances on Sunday talk shows, both McCain and Graham made clear that they remain uncertain about Trump's foreign policy intentions, and that they hope to work with those they approve of in the Cabinet, some of whose ideas have contrasted with those expressed by the new White House.
If Trump's promise to put "America first" is "a throwback to the '20s and '30s isolationism . . . the world will deteriorate even quicker, Graham said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "If it is a new way of Ronald Reagan peace through strength, I would like to work with you."
"I don't know what America first means," Graham said. On issues such as a new relationship with Russia, or possible cuts in foreign aid, he said, "I would tell him...talk to General Mattis," Trump's newly confirmed Defense Secretary, who has emphasized the use of "soft power" and working with allies.
Tillerson understands those same priorities, Graham said, adding that Trump should not "be weak on Russia."
McCain, speaking on ABC's "This Week," echoed concerns about Russia, and Trump's call for warmer relations, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "a war criminal."
He said Mattis, Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, newly confirmed Secretary of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, and Dan Coats, named as Director of National Security, shared his view that Russia is "our major challenge."
"I couldn't have picked a better team," McCain said. "And so I'm confident that [Trump] will listen to them and be guided by them."
Asked whether he had "utmost confidence" in Trump himself, McCain said "I do not know, because he has made so many comments that are contradictory."