Trump endorses Netanyahu ahead of Israel's October 27 election

In just over a week, Israelis head to the polls in elections described as the most consequential in the country's history. On October the 27th, voters in Israel will be choosing between change or handing the right-wing government another mandate. Al Jazeera has special coverage for the next 10 days. In the past few minutes, US President Donald Trump announced he's endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu in the election. Posting on social media, he said Bibi Netanyahu has been a great warrior prime minister and an even greater partner for peace in combating the Islamic Republic of Iran. 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. This is the kind of partner that the United States of America is demanding of Israel, a country for which it has done so much. Let this letter serve to represent my complete and total endorsement. Well, is covering the elections from the Occupied West Bank because it's been banned from reporting inside Israel. That's where Noor Odeh is live for us in Ramallah. Noor, we've seen this post from Donald Trump in the last few minutes. Not necessarily a surprise. Just run us through what else Donald Trump had said in this letter. Well, it was a surprise in terms of hopes, at least for the opposition, who were trying for weeks to convince the American president not to endorse any candidate for prime minister. So this was a card up Netanyahu's sleeve and now it's out. the U.S. president described Benjamin Netanyahu as the warrior. Prime Minister said that finishing the job when it comes to Iran really depended on Benjamin Netanyahu being there. And the operative word that he used, demanding from the Israeli voters, this is something that will sure hurt a lot of voters. Remember, this is not Trump's first intervention in a domestic Israeli affair. Earlier in the year, he had asked, demanded, actually, from the Israeli president that he give Benjamin Netanyahu a full pardon for all the corruption charges that he's facing. Of course, Benjamin Netanyahu did not get that pardon. But certainly, this is one more way that Donald Trump has shown that he can influence domestic Israeli politics, that he has a lot of stake in the outcome of elections. And the opposition now will have to figure out a way to open more dialogue channels with the U.S. administration to see if they win the elections, how that would turn out. Is this likely to be significant within Israel or move the dial at all towards Netanyahu? It will energize the supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing bloc. Benjamin Netanyahu always talks about his special relationship with the United States, his special abilities to influence U.S. policymakers. In fact, in the past few days, we've seen him on Israeli channels saying, who's going to talk to U.S. lawmakers? Who's going to work with my best friend, Donald Trump? Eisenkot, certainly not. And that's the frontrunner in the elections right now. Benjamin Netanyahu always presents himself as the person who knows how to get things done on the U.S. Capitol out of all the Israeli prime ministers. He even boasts about spending a thousand prime time TV hours with U.S. media channels communicating Israel's position, defending Israel's policies and actions, especially in the past three years. So this will be a boost, certainly a morale boost for his followers and something that Netanyahu will capitalize on. not so much perhaps for the opposition who might feel defensive about such a clear outside intervention in their elections. Okay thank you so much Noor. Noor Odeh for us in Ramallah. Just a reminder Al Jazeera is reporting on the Israeli elections from the occupied West Bank because it has been banned from reporting inside Israel. Well joining us though from Tel Aviv is Shana Fuld. She is the CEO and anchor of the Israel Daily News podcast. Thank you so much for being with us. If we can begin, first of all, with this developing story, Donald Trump endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu. We heard there from our correspondent, Noor, that the opposition had been trying to stop Donald Trump from endorsing anyone, any candidate, any party. What do you think that this does? I think, well, first of all, thanks for having Israeli voices on Al Jazeera. And I think that this endorsement does exactly what Netanyahu and his party have been trying to show the Israeli public not just now, but for a long time, especially since the relationship has continued between Trump and Netanyahu. Netanyahu says, who is going to have the support of the heavy hitter of the United States, if not him? And I think that what this really does is for voters who maybe historically voted for Bibi, but we're trying to get away, are seeking to have change. I think this might actually be bringing people back to the drawing board. A lot of people talk about Netanyahu. They comment on his excellent English. They comment on his presentation skills. He's very persuasive. He's great when he's on stage. And so this is just going to strengthen that idea that if not Bibi, then who? Who is going to get this international support? So I think voters here in Israel, this could potentially cause a little bit of a conflict for those who are trying to see a new face in the premiership. What does Donald Trump's intervention in Israeli politics, though, actually mean? How important is that relationship between Israel and the United States? The relationship here in Israel is huge. Israelis really, first of all, emulate a lot of American culture, are interested in what's going on in the U.S. and recognize that the U.S. is the greatest ally of Israel. And so it's very meaningful for them. They care that this relationship is strong. They don't want to see this relationship go away. There are people who definitely talk about getting independence from the United States and being able to make their own decisions, especially militarily. You know, a war has been going on between Israel and Iran. It's been quiet in recent days. People are talking about what's going to happen after the elections. Are we going to see missiles flying? Is the United States going to hit Iran? And we've seen interesting developments in which some of that conflict between the United States and Iran has actually been contained just between them. And then there have been times that Israel and Iran were having their spars and the U.S. was less involved. So I think people really do want to see Israel being able to make their own choices and without having to run by the United States, which we all know there have been times throughout history that Israel did something that the US advised the country against. And both leaders will say, I am the leader of Israel. I am the leader of the United States. We each have to make our own decisions. But I think Israelis here do really keep that relationship present in mind. And as we are just nine days out from elections, this is definitely a card that Netanyahu and his party are going to be playing on. Like you say, nine days to go. For those of us outside Israel that might not understand the nuances of everything that's going on there. What should we be keeping an eye out over the next week or so? I think one theme that's really come up throughout all the parties that I've been interviewing, I've been running an English language series in which I'm bringing a member from each party to speak to the international community for those who have a weaker Hebrew here in Israel. Something that I'm hearing is, first of all, people care about security? At the last October 7th three-year commemoration, at least in Tel Aviv, there was a lot of discussion from people who showed up about having a state investigation. People want answers. Why did October 7th happen? How did that happen? How did Hamas blow over the border without security being able to prevent it and being able to intervene earlier? People really want to see an investigation. And people think that Prime Minister Netanyahu is the person who's preventing that from moving forward, and people are very resentful of it. So something that people want to see moving forward is a state investigation. They want to see more involvement from the Orthodox, the ultra-Orthodox groups throughout the country to get involved in the military and, of course, security and education for kids throughout the nation. Thank you so much. We've run out of time. We really do appreciate your time, your insight, and explaining all of that for us. That is Shana Fould for us in Tel Aviv. Thank you.