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A campaign billboard featuring Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.Julia Jester \/ MS NOW<\/p>\nTEL AVIV, Israel \u2014 Along a major road in Tel Aviv, a digital billboard features a smiling President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu with a Hebrew message that reads: \u201cVote Netanyahu! Only with him will we finish the job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even if Trump never actually said those words, when Trump endorsed Netanyahu nine days before Israel\u2019s upcoming election, the sentiment was similar.<\/p>\n
Given the ongoing war with Iran, Trump is reluctant to build a brand-new relationship with an Israeli prime minister he does not know as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf 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,\u201d Trump wrote in his glowing Truth Social post backing Netanyahu.<\/p>\n
Trump called Netanyahu \u201can even greater Partner for Peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the first time a U.S. president had explicitly backed a candidate for Israeli prime minister \u2014 another example of Trump departing from the longstanding American tradition of not publicly endorsing candidates in foreign elections.<\/p>\n
Like Trump\u2019s barnstorming efforts to save the candidacies of Republicans running in midterms in the U.S., the elections in Israel on Tuesday will be another test of the power of Trump\u2019s endorsement.<\/p>\n
A campaign billboard featuring Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.Julia Jester \/ MS NOW<\/p>\n
During Trump\u2019s first time in office, his popularity in Israel grew as he recognized Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights, helped move the Israeli capital and U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and brokered the Abraham Accords.<\/p>\n
His securing of a deal with Hamas to release all remaining hostages held in Gaza \u2014 after Netanyahu faced criticism for not prioritizing the lives of Israeli hostages over eliminating Hamas leaders \u2014 also burnished his legacy with the Israeli population.<\/p>\n
While once widely popular in Israel, public opinion of Trump has recently taken a hit, in large part due to the memorandum of understanding with Iran he signed in June.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m, right now, at 99% in Israel,\u201d Trump boasted in May. By July, Israeli confidence in Trump hit a record low: Only 7% of Israelis had a \u201cgreat deal\u201d of confidence in Trump, with 45% saying they have no confidence, according to a poll by the Jewish People Policy Institute<\/a>.<\/p>\n In contrast, the first survey in March after the joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran recorded 34% were very confident in Trump, compared to 20% who were not. In February, prior to the Iran conflict, 73% of Israelis said Trump was on track to become one of the best or an above-average president.<\/p>\n Former U.S. diplomats and officials, who were surprised by the endorsement, say despite Trump\u2019s frustrations with Netanyahu, he could benefit from the familiar.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s be very clear: Trump is for Trump, Netanyahu is an instrument,\u201d said Aaron David Miller, a former Arab-Israeli negotiator at the State Department who worked for several presidential administrations.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Iran is really important here,\u201d Miller said, underscoring the focus of Trump\u2019s endorsement post. \u201cTrump thinks he can maneuver and manipulate Netanyahu, and it\u2019s the devil you know.\u201d<\/p>\n And Trump knows Netanyahu well.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is an ease of working with the Netanyahu government, and I\u2019m not saying this is good for democracy, I\u2019m just saying they have been around for so long that we know a lot of the players and people,\u201d a former senior Trump administration official told MS NOW, granted anonymity to discuss diplomatic relationships.<\/p>\n If Netanyahu loses, Trump will have to learn how to work with his rival: Gadi Eisenkot, a former Israeli military chief who leads the centrist Yashar party.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat you\u2019re talking about here is personality differences, not major ideological differences or even major policy changes,\u201d the former official said, noting the significance if Eisenkot is able to pull off the political feat of building a winning coalition as a political newcomer. \u201cIf he can do that, then that\u2019s a pretty good indicator that he\u2019s going to be, or he can be, a savvy player on the world stage with the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n If Netanyahu\u2019s Likud party does not secure a majority of Knesset seats, weeks or even months of coalition-building will ensue, with the possibility of new elections.<\/p>\n \tMore articles<\/p>\n A senior State Department official told MS NOW the Trump administration is prepared for every eventuality of the Israeli elections, including a stalemate.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are committed to remaining close partners. We\u2019re going to be able to work constructively with whoever comes out on the other side of the election,\u201d the senior official said.<\/p>\n The Israeli elections could have major implications for America\u2019s primary interests in Israel \u2014 Trump\u2019s Gaza peace plan, security in the West Bank, and Israel-Lebanon negotiations \u2014 though current and former officials expect those challenges to remain regardless of the results.<\/p>\n But a new Israeli leader could potentially improve the worsening mood toward Israel among the American public and give pro-Israel congressional Democrats cover if Netanyahu, wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Gaza, is gone.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s a change in the government and the prime minister, what it does is it stops the bleeding,\u201d said Dennis Ross, who was the key U.S. envoy in the Middle East peace process during the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. \u201cIt reminds everybody that Israel is a democracy, the only one in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n Natan Peretz and his wife Hadas have felt the expanded effects of the Iran war firsthand. The parents of three children live in Shlomi, a small town in northern Israel close to the Lebanon border facing a near constant threat of drone and missile attacks from Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy.<\/p>\n Peretz, 42, had mixed feelings about Trump. He said the Iran war has been \u201chorrible for us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201dLook, he\u2019s a crazy guy,\u201d he said, speaking to MS NOW in Jerusalem. \u201cHe can change his mind in a second.\u201d<\/p>\n Hadas Peretz, 39, once had a positive view of Trump and his support for Israel \u2014 until he attempted to negotiate an end to the Iran war without Israel\u2019s involvement. \u201cYou cannot talk with terrorists,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The Peretzes plan to vote against Netanyahu, who they say does not care about helping the people in Israel.<\/p>\n Shimon Friedman and Shragie Strauss, who both moved to Israel from New York, still see Trump as one of Israel\u2019s strongest supporters. They spoke to MS NOW in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n \u201cI used to be actually anti-[Trump], but right now, I\u2019m pro-Israel and I feel like the left wing has gone very far, so I feel like he\u2019s on the right side,\u201d said Friedman, 30.<\/p>\n Strauss was unbothered by the recently tumultuous relationship between Trump and Netanyahu.<\/p>\n \u201cSo far, he\u2019s definitely seemed like he stuck up for us a lot,\u201d said Strauss, 26. \u201cEven though at points he\u2019s cursed him out, but I feel like he\u2019s done that to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Julia Jester reported this story from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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