Trump Backs Netanyahu for Reelection After Months of Withholding Endorsement

President Donald Trump endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, giving the embattled leader a sought-after boost late in his reelection campaign. The backing came after Trump had held it back for months, as the two leaders' approaches in the Middle East drifted apart.

In a social media post, Trump described Netanyahu as "a Great Warrior Prime Minister, and an even greater Partner for Peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran." He also called him "Strong, Brave, and Brilliant in the face of tremendous opposition, including that coming from even Israel, itself."

Israelis are due to vote on Oct. 27, in the first national elections since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Netanyahu, of the Likud Party, had presented his close ties to the Republican president as a reason for voters to keep him in office, so the lack of an endorsement had been a setback.

Netanyahu thanked Trump in a Hebrew-language statement on X. "Thank you, President Trump, for the tremendous support and work together," he wrote. "Together we will complete the mission!" Likud added a 35-second video of clips showing the two men together and Trump praising the prime minister.

Trump again threatened to "soon finish the job" against Iran "unless they change their ways, rapidly." He suggested, however, that a Netanyahu defeat could change his thinking. "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," he said.

It was not immediately clear how the endorsement would affect a race expected to be tight. Trump remains popular in Israel, but many Israelis, including prominent commentators, have voiced disappointment over the inconclusive end to the Iran war and over Trump's ceasefire proposal, which fell short of many of the key goals the two countries had when they launched the war together in February.

Trump has backed Netanyahu before. In November, he sent a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog asking him to pardon Netanyahu on corruption charges. In recent months, though, his remarks about the prime minister had been far more restrained. In a Time magazine interview published this month, he answered a question about supporting Netanyahu by saying, "I'm not involved in politics anymore," even though he has campaigned for and endorsed U.S. politicians.

Particularly in his second term, Trump has sought to endorse candidates in foreign elections and has claimed credit when they won. He supported Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who failed in his bid for a fifth term, as well as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Polish President Karol Nawrocki and several Latin American leaders.

Trump and Netanyahu have long been close allies and appeared more closely aligned than ever after the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities in 2025. During the nearly eight-month war with Iran this year, however, they clashed at times. Trump criticized Israel's decision to hit a key Iranian gas field in the war's first weeks, called Netanyahu "crazy" in June, and said he was "a little bit perturbed" that Israel's fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon was holding back peace talks with Iran.

The two also differ over Gaza. In August, Netanyahu rejected Trump's latest plan to move a stalled ceasefire forward, resisting the U.S. call for Israel to withdraw from territory it controls in Gaza until Hamas has been disarmed.