Trump backs ally Netanyahu ahead of Israel’s tight election

The election is seen as a referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu, who quickly thanked US President Donald Trump for his support on Sunday. (EPA Images pic) JERUSALEM: US President Donald Trump on Sunday endorsed his ally Benjamin Netanyahu before Israel's close-fought parliamentary election on Oct 27, providing a boost to the veteran prime minister's bid to win a new mandate.

Netanyahu touted his close relationship with the US president in a video released by his Likud party, saying that together they had "crushed Iran" and adding that re-election would allow him to work with Trump to "elminate the Iranian threat over the next two years, or even sooner".

The endorsement comes less than two weeks before Israel's first vote since the Oct 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack, which opposition politicians have accused Netanyahu of bearing personal responsibility for after allegedly ignoring warnings.

Trump and Netanyahu, whose polls show he is in a tight election race, have worked closely together on Israel's multi-front wars after the Hamas-led attack, including bombarding Iran, and the endorsement could be a boon to his re-election campaign.

"Bibi Netanyahu has been Strong, Brave, and Brilliant in the face of tremendous opposition, including that coming from even Israel, itself," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, using a common nickname for the Israeli leader.

"This is the kind of Partner that the United States of America is demanding of Israel, a Country for which it has done so much. Please let this Letter serve to represent my Complete and Total Endorsement of Bibi Netanyahu in his upcoming Race for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Israel."

The election is seen as a referendum on Netanyahu, who quickly thanked the US leader for his support on Sunday.

"Thank you, President Trump, for your tremendous support and for our work together. Together we will complete the mission!" he wrote on X.

"I ask you to listen carefully to what President Trump said this evening," Netanyahu told voters. "He said that together we have accomplished extraordinary things... But there is still a mission to complete."

Trump joined Netanyahu in a US-Israeli attack on Iran in late February but agreed to a ceasefire in April in the face of widespread US public opposition to the war, which had sent oil prices spiralling.

Speaking at an event in August, Netanyahu said Trump "is our greatest friend, one of the greatest friends we have had in the White House".

But relations between the two have at times been strained on Iran, with Netanyahu saying no diplomatic agreement was possible with Iran's leadership, while Trump sought a negotiated end to the months-long conflict.

Voter warning

The endorsement comes after US secretary of state Marco Rubio warned against a brewing "crisis" in the occupied West Bank after an American photojournalist for The Washington Post was injured in a brutal attack by Israeli settlers.

"We're very disturbed by those images and what we're seeing," Rubio told reporters Saturday. Netanyahu's office said it was investigating the circumstances around the attack.

With Israel and Netanyahu looking increasingly isolated on the world stage, Trump's support is vital.

Netanyahu, who turns 77 on Oct 21, is Israel's longest-serving prime minister, having served as prime minister on and off for more than 19 years.

The wily political operator returned to power in December 2022, bringing in once-shunned ultra-nationalists, and quickly tried to rein in the judiciary, which is examining corruption charges that could land him in jail.

His main election rival is opposition politician Gadi Eisenkot, the leader of the centre-right Yashar party and a former military chief who regularly accuses Netanyahu of bearing personal responsibility for the Oct 7 attack.

Some seven million Israelis will be eligible to vote in the legislative election.

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

Eisenkot said that only Israelis could choose who they want to run the country.

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

But Trump warned against Israel electing "anyone other than Bibi", writing that if voters chose one of his rivals, "America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so."

On Sunday, Israel's far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir said "there is only one person capable of serving as Prime Minister, and that is Benjamin Netanyahu."