- President Trump endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nine days before Israel’s October 27 election.
- Trump warned that if Israelis pick anyone else, America would have to handle Iran alone, which he is not inclined to do.
- A Maariv newspaper poll shows Netanyahu’s coalition and the opposition tied at 51 seats each, short of a majority.
- Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, a former Israeli military chief, leads Netanyahu 48% to 41% as preferred prime minister.
- The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran remains unpopular with Americans ahead of November’s congressional elections.
In an extraordinary intervention in a foreign election, President Donald Trump issued a “complete and total endorsement” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, just nine days before Israelis head to the polls on October 27. The president warned that if voters choose anyone else, the United States would be forced to handle the Iran threat alone — something he signaled he would rather avoid.
Endorsement comes as polls show deadlocked race
Trump’s message, posted on Truth Social and addressed to the Israeli people, praised Netanyahu as “strong, brave, and brilliant” and said the prime minister had only grown stronger under pressure. “Normal men or women in such situations would have wilted under the pressure — but Bibi did not wilt,” Trump wrote.
The endorsement arrives as opinion surveys show no clear path to victory for either Netanyahu’s coalition or the opposition bloc headed by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot. A Maariv poll released Sunday showed the two blocs tied at 51 seats apiece in the 120-seat Knesset, 10 seats shy of a governing majority. In a head-to-head matchup, however, Eisenkot led Netanyahu 48 percent to 41 percent on who would make the better prime minister.
The election will be Israel’s first since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that upended the region and sparked wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. It could decide whether Netanyahu survives what has been one of the most turbulent stretches in the country’s history.
Trump ties Iran campaign to Netanyahu’s re-election
In a move that broke with longstanding tradition of American presidents refraining from campaigning in foreign elections, Trump signaled that America’s role in the Iran fight could depend on who leads Israel.
“If Israel has the wrong leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so,” Trump wrote.
The U.S. and Israel jointly launched strikes on Iran in February, kicking off a war that has rattled global energy markets and battered economies across the region. The conflict remains unpopular with American voters ahead of the November 3 congressional elections.
Netanyahu quickly thanked his “dear friend Donald” in a post on X, saying: “Together, we will complete the mission!”
Analysts question whether endorsement will sway voters
Analysts see a modest upside at best for Netanyahu. Tamar Hermann, a senior research fellow at the non-partisan Israel Democracy Institute, said Trump’s backing could lure back some wavering Netanyahu supporters but is unlikely to broaden his appeal much beyond them.
With the race this tight, “it couldn’t hurt him, and it might help,” said Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
Eisenkot, speaking at a Tel Aviv event, said he respects Trump but that Israelis alone will choose their next leader. The former army chief’s son and nephews were killed in the Gaza war, and critics accuse Netanyahu of failing to deliver the security he promised.
Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu has been both close and rocky, with the president scolding the Israeli leader in public and behind closed doors over how he has managed the conflict. Last month, Trump told TIME magazine not to count Netanyahu out.
“People have written off Bibi many, many times, just like they’ve written off me many, many times,” Trump said.
The bottom line is that Trump has effectively put America’s next move in Iran on a foreign ballot. Americans, who have already soured on the war, may fairly ask why its next chapter should hinge on how Israelis vote. Whether that pressure helps Netanyahu or backfires against a leader already facing deep domestic disillusionment will be decided next week.
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