reports<\/a> that Trump continues to regard post-election escalation as a viable option.<\/p>\nAgainst that background, Trump\u2019s endorsement is not simply about personal loyalty; it is about who will sit across from him when the next decision on Iran must be made.<\/p>\n
The timing nevertheless makes the statement striking. Trump had repeatedly declined opportunities to endorse Netanyahu. In August, he said, \u201cI think it\u2019s most appropriate for me to stay out of Israeli elections, but I may endorse somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Oct. 14, asked whether he would back a candidate, he replied, \u201cWe haven\u2019t even thought about it,\u201d before adding, \u201cI may be doing something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two days later, when Newsmax asked whether he trusted Netanyahu, Trump answered: \u201cI don\u2019t trust anybody, honestly. In the world of politics, I don\u2019t trust anybody.\u201d He nevertheless described their relationship as \u201cvery good\u201d and their cooperation against Iran as successful.<\/p>\n
Trump has now moved from studied ambiguity to the strongest endorsement he could plausibly give. The immediate question is how many Israeli votes it will move.<\/p>\n
For voters focused primarily on domestic issues, the endorsement may make little difference. Israelis have formed strong opinions about Netanyahu over decades, and one statement\u2014even from an American president\u2014will not erase concerns about the cost of living, military service, judicial reform or the failures surrounding the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7, 2023.<\/p>\n
But another group of voters will see the election through a very different lens. For them, Israel\u2019s relationship with Trump is the election\u2019s most important issue, and preventing Iran from recovering its nuclear and ballistic-missile capabilities is an existential necessity. These voters will ask not merely which candidate they prefer, but which Israeli leader is most likely to secure American diplomatic, military and operational support when the next confrontation begins.<\/p>\n
On those two questions, Trump has made Netanyahu the clear choice.<\/p>\n
The United States remains the only country capable of providing Israel with certain strategic weapons, diplomatic protection and long-range military capabilities. Trump has now said publicly that Netanyahu is the Israeli leader he wants as his partner.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsrael is America\u2019s model ally, and America is Israel\u2019s indispensable ally. Iran and its proxies are weaker than ever, and the American-Israeli alliance is stronger than ever,\u201d the Senior Israeli official added.<\/p>\n
An Israeli government led by Gadi Eisenkot might ultimately establish an effective relationship with Washington, but voters would be taking that on faith. Netanyahu already has a record of planning, coordinating and conducting operations against Iran alongside Trump.<\/p>\n
The endorsement could therefore influence undecided right-wing voters, former Likud voters considering other parties and security-minded centrists who may have serious reservations about Netanyahu but regard Iran as the overriding issue. It also confronts potential protest voters with a stark calculation: Is replacing Netanyahu worth risking uncertainty in Israel\u2019s most important foreign relationship at the moment when the Iranian campaign may enter its decisive stage?<\/p>\n
If voters believe Israel must finish dismantling Iran\u2019s nuclear threat\u2014and that doing so may require another joint campaign with the United States\u2014then Netanyahu can now argue that changing prime ministers means changing commanders in the middle of an unfinished war.<\/p>\n
But the endorsement\u2019s greater significance may still emerge after the ballots are counted. Current coalition arithmetic suggests that neither Netanyahu\u2019s bloc nor the opposition is guaranteed the 61 Knesset seats required to govern. Israel has seen this before.<\/p>\n
The third election of the previous political deadlock was held on March 2, 2020. Netanyahu\u2019s right-wing bloc won 58 seats\u2014three short of a majority\u2014while Benny Gantz secured recommendations from 61 lawmakers and received the mandate to form a government.<\/p>\n
Gantz and the anti-Netanyahu parties initially moved to take control of the Knesset. They sought to replace Speaker Yuli Edelstein, secure control of parliamentary committees and advance legislation that could have prevented an indicted lawmaker from forming a government. After the High Court ordered a vote on the speakership, Edelstein resigned on March 25 rather than convene it.<\/p>\n
As Israeli politics was playing itself out, COVID19 became an epic global crisis. And it transformed Israel\u2019s political landscape. Israel suddenly required unity amidst the uncertainty of a worldwide pandemic, and having a seasoned diplomat like Netanyahu at the helm took on even greater importance.<\/p>\n
On March 26, Gantz reversed course and opted to pursue a unity government with a rotation agreement between the two political adversaries. Gantz was elected Knesset speaker with Likud support, splitting his Blue and White alliance. He said that \u201cunusual times\u201d required \u201cunusual decisions,\u201d opening negotiations with Netanyahu rather than continuing the opposition\u2019s attempt to dislodge him.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu and Gantz signed their emergency unity agreement on April 20. Their government was sworn in on May 17, with Netanyahu due to serve as prime minister for 18 months before rotating the position to Gantz. Ultimately, the transfer never occurred, as Netanyahu opted for early elections over implementing the rotation. The Knesset dissolved automatically on Dec. 23 after the coalition failed to pass a state budget, triggering a fourth election.<\/p>\n
Yet that history, amid a crisis that transcends politics, may provide a model for what follows the present election. Clearly, Trump wants Israeli voters to know that he prefers that Netanyahu remain at the helm. Netanyahu\u2019s most likely and preferred path to remain in office is with a rerun of the members of his current coalition.<\/p>\n
While left-wing media project Netanyahu falling far short of a majority, right-wing media are projecting him and his partners as garnering enough votes to install a fresh right-wing coalition. Netanyahu likely hopes that Trump\u2019s endorsement is the final piece that convinces voters that another term is Israel\u2019s best electoral outcome.<\/p>\n
Yet, if the result is another stalemate, Trump\u2019s endorsement could make it harder for opposition leaders simply to exclude Netanyahu. With the Iranian threat unresolved and Trump remaining in office for more than two years, a unity or rotation agreement could allow Netanyahu to lead during the Trump years and another candidate\u2014potentially Eisenkot\u2014to take over afterward.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s endorsement may influence more voters than conventional analysis assumes. More importantly, it could determine how Israel\u2019s leaders negotiate on the morning after.<\/p>\n
According to the Senior Israeli official, \u201cWe have two years of Trump-Netanyahu to win the war and win the peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alex Traiman is CEO & Jerusalem Bureau Chief of the Jerusalem News Syndicate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Oct. 18, 2026 \/ JNS) U.S. President Donald Trump has delivered the endorsement that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650467,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-650466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}