President Donald Trump has given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu his “complete and total endorsement” nine days before Israelis go to the polls, ending months in which he pointedly withheld his backing.
In an open letter addressed “to the Great People of Israel” posted on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump called Netanyahu “a Great Warrior Prime Minister, and an even greater Partner for Peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran”. The endorsement lands with elections in Israel set for October 27, the country’s first national vote since the October 7, 2023 attacks.
A warning attached
The endorsement came with a blunt condition. Trump warned that unless Iran changes course rapidly, “we will soon finish the job”, and added: “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”, according to reports.
Trump had declined to back any candidate for months as their Middle East strategies diverged, and some of his closest advisers voiced concerns about a public endorsement, according to reports. Asked about the timing, Trump said it was deliberate: “I was always going to do that. I just didn’t want to do it too soon”, according to reports.
Netanyahu thanked Trump in an English language video posted on X, saying Israel “has never had a greater friend in the White House” and that together they would never let Iran’s regime get nuclear weapons, according to reports.
A race still wide open
Whether the endorsement helps is an open question. A poll by the country’s top rated TV station found the move has not boosted Netanyahu’s bid and may even have damaged it, with many voters already decided, according to reports.
Recent polling has shown Netanyahu’s Likud trailing in a crowded field, so the American president’s intervention arrives at a genuinely uncertain moment, one in which Washington is now openly a player in the campaign’s final stretch.
