In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump gave his 'Complete and Total Endorsement' to Netanyahu, whose Likud Party faces a close race against an opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party. 'BIBI NETANYAHU WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!' Trump wrote, adding that it was only a matter of time before Iran would have attacked both the US and Israel.
The endorsement comes after weeks of speculation that Trump might withhold his backing. Earlier this month, when pressed repeatedly about Netanyahu's job performance in an interview with Time magazine, Trump avoided the subject, shifting focus to his own popularity or Middle East security. Reports have surfaced of disagreements between the two leaders, including over the war against Iran and other conflicts. In June, Trump acknowledged calling Netanyahu 'f***ing crazy' during a phone conversation in which he expressed frustration over Israeli attacks on Lebanon and asked Netanyahu not to take further action, apparently to preserve a short-lived April ceasefire with Iran.
Trump and Netanyahu jointly launched a war against Iran on February 28, but the conflict has cost Trump domestic support. A Pew Research Center poll this month found that roughly two-thirds of US voters disapprove of Trump's handling of the war, which has driven up consumer fuel prices and raised concerns about draining military stockpiles. With the Republican Party facing a critical midterm election on November 3, experts have speculated that Trump's earlier reticence to endorse Netanyahu may have stemmed from public perception that Israel coaxed the US into war.
In his endorsement, Trump argued that the war has already left Iran 'systematically destroyed, both Militarily and Financially, and unless they change their ways, rapidly, we will soon finish the job.' He added: '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.'