Trump Expresses Support for His Ally Netanyahu Ahead of Tight Israeli Elections

U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his "full and total support" on Sunday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his close ally, who faces closely contested general elections on October 27.

Netanyahu highlighted his close relationship with the U.S. president in a video released by his party, the right-wing Likud, and stated that together they "crushed Iran," adding that if reelected he could work with Trump to "eliminate the Iranian threat in the next two years, or even sooner."

Netanyahu thanked Trump "for his immense support" and for the joint work, after the U.S. leader posted a message of support on Truth Social less than two weeks before the elections.

"Let this letter serve as testimony of my full and total support for Bibi Netanyahu in his race for reelection as prime minister of Israel," the U.S. president wrote. "He is the kind of partner the United States asks for in Israel, a country for which he has done so much."

Trump joined Netanyahu in a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran in late February but accepted a ceasefire in April amid broad U.S. public opposition to the war, which had driven up oil prices.

The October 27 vote will be the country's first election since the October 7, 2023, attack led by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which shook the country's foundations, making these elections a referendum on Netanyahu.

Netanyahu, who turns 77 this month, is the longest-serving prime minister in Israel's history and has accumulated more than 18 years in power across different terms since his first election in 1996.

But with the war in Gaza unleashed after the Hamas attack, he is increasingly isolated on the international stage, and Trump's support is vital.

A Warning to Voters

Netanyahu, who has survived for decades as a shrewd politician, returned as prime minister in December 2022 after incorporating ultranationalists who were previously marginalized, and he quickly attempted to reform the judiciary, which is investigating corruption allegations that could send him to prison.

His main rival is Gadi Eisenkot, a former senior military commander and leader of the center-right Yashar (Rectitude) party, who routinely accuses Netanyahu of being responsible for the October 7 attack for having ignored warnings from security services and other countries.

Eisenkot responded quickly to Trump's statement and affirmed that only Israelis can choose who they want to lead the country.

At a conference in Tel Aviv, Eisenkot said he "admires" Trump, "but Israel is a democratic country, and only Israelis can choose their leaders."

However, Trump warned Israel not to choose "anyone but Bibi" and assured that if voters choose one of his rivals, the United States will have to face the Iranian threat alone.

"The United States will have to do this job by itself, and I am not willing to do it," the Republican leader stated.

Current polls indicate that neither Netanyahu's bloc nor the one led by Eisenkot is in a position to obtain the 61 seats needed to control the 120-seat parliament and form a governing coalition.