Trump endorses Netanyahu days before Israeli election — SkimNews
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- Trump endorsed Netanyahu in a Sunday social media post, calling him a 'Great Warrior Prime Minister' and 'even greater Partner for Peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran,' days before Israelis vote Oct. 27 in the first election since Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
- Trump conditioned further US military pressure on Iran on Netanyahu's reelection, writing 'If Israel has the wrong Leader...America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so.'
- Netanyahu had billed his ties to Trump as a campaign selling point for months while the endorsement was withheld; in a Time magazine interview published this month, Trump demurred with 'I'm not involved in politics anymore.'
- Trump in November sent a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog asking him to pardon Netanyahu on corruption charges, and endorsed him in past Israeli elections as well as current Israeli ones.
- Likud posted Netanyahu's Hebrew-language thanks on X alongside a 35-second video of the two leaders together; the source notes the race is expected to be tight and that Israeli commentators are unhappy with the inconclusive war outcome and the US ceasefire terms.
- Trump and Netanyahu publicly clashed during the eight-month Iran war — Trump called Netanyahu 'crazy' in June, criticized Israel's strike on an Iranian gas field, and Netanyahu in August rejected Trump's Gaza ceasefire plan that called for Israeli withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed.
Why it matters: By tying America's willingness to continue pressure on Iran to Netanyahu personally, Trump turns an Israeli domestic vote into a factor in Middle East strategy — making the Oct. 27 outcome consequential for US-Iran escalation decisions, not just Israeli coalition math.
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