Trump endorses Netanyahu ahead of Israel's October 27 elections

Donald Trump posted a message of support for Benjamin Netanyahu on Truth Social in the days before Israel's parliamentary elections on October 27, declaring his "Complete and Total Endorsement" of the Israeli prime minister. The timing was deliberate: opinion polls showed neither Netanyahu nor his opposition challenger would likely secure the 61 seats required to form a governing coalition, making every advantage—including international backing—potentially consequential.

Trump framed the endorsement around a single issue: Iran. He described Netanyahu as a "Great Warrior Prime Minister" and argued that the United States would be forced to confront Iran alone if Netanyahu lost. The conflict between Israel, the US, and Iran had been active since February, and had already disrupted global oil supplies when Tehran blocked shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump invoked the chant used by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, which calls for the destruction of both America and Israel, labeling the two nations "the big and small Satans." His message was unambiguous: without Netanyahu in power, the burden would fall on Washington. "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.

Netanyahu responded swiftly, thanking Trump for his "tremendous support" and posting on X that "Together we will complete the mission"—a reference to the joint campaign against Iran. The endorsement was a gift to Netanyahu's campaign, one he had learned to weaponize before. In 2019, his Likud party had plastered billboards across Israel showing Netanyahu shaking hands with Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, marketing him as a leader in a "different league." Now, with his political standing weakened at home, the American president's backing offered a counterweight to domestic criticism.

Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu's main challenger, responded by asserting that Israeli voters alone would decide their country's next leader. Speaking at an event in Tel Aviv, Eisenkot acknowledged Trump's "large contribution" to Israel's security but insisted that Israel remained a democracy. The incoming US administration, he suggested, would adapt to whatever government the Israeli public chose. His message was a rebuke wrapped in courtesy—a reminder that foreign endorsements, however prominent, do not determine elections in a sovereign state.

Netanyahu's political vulnerability ran deeper than polling numbers. He is Israel's longest-serving prime minister, yet much of the country remained divided over his government's failure to anticipate or prevent the October 7 attack by Hamas and affiliated groups, which killed approximately 1,200 Israelis. Netanyahu had resisted calls for a state inquiry with real investigative power, preferring instead a commission with limited access to government documents and no authority to compel testimony from senior officials. The question of accountability for that intelligence failure hung over his campaign.

The war that followed October 7 had killed approximately 74,000 Palestinians in Gaza. Netanyahu had promised "total victory," but Hamas remained in control of significant portions of the territory. His coalition partners had also advocated for what they called the "wilful migration" of Gaza residents and for deepening Israeli control of the West Bank—policies widely regarded as violations of international law. These positions energized his base but deepened the country's internal fractures.

The election centered on more than foreign policy. Israelis were debating the conscription of young ultraorthodox men into the military, the rising cost of living, and the nation's international standing. Trump's endorsement addressed only one dimension of a much larger contest. Whether it would move voters remained uncertain. The polls suggested the election would produce no clear winner, leaving Israel facing weeks of coalition negotiations in which every seat, and every gesture of international support, might matter.