Trump backs Netanyahu ahead of Israel’s October 2026 elections

Now, Israeli voters will head to the polls next week in elections described as the most consequential in the country's history. Al Jazeera is bringing you special coverage in the run-up to the vote on October 27th. That's when Israelis will choose between change or handing the right-wing government another term in power. Nine days before the vote, and U.S. President Donald Trump has endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's re-election efforts. Trump called Netanyahu a partner for peace, with the Israeli Prime Minister saying he and the US President had achieved remarkable things together. I want to address the citizens of Israel who are still undecided about whom to vote for. I ask you to listen carefully to what President Trump said this evening. He gave me his unequivocal support, and he explained why. He said that together we achieved remarkable things. We crushed Iran, we crushed the Iranian axis, and we pushed back the immediate threat of nuclear bombs. But there is still one mission left to complete, and he said that he will complete that mission together with his loyal friend. Our partnership, which has accomplished so much, will continue in the next two years, perhaps longer, in order to eliminate the Iranian threat once and for all. Well, Trump's endorsement of Netanyahu comes after reports of disagreements between the leaders in recent months, particularly over the war against Iran. Patty Culhane has more from Washington, D.C. It's not customary for U.S. presidents to weigh in on foreign elections, but that is something that U.S. President Donald Trump has been doing, and now he has in Israel, endorsing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, taking to social media, posting that the U.S. and Israel need to finish the job, in his words, in Iran. He said if it's the wrong leader, anyone other than Bibi will have to do this alone, and I'm not inclined to do so. He also went on to say that this is the kind of partner the United States is demanding of Israel. So a very complete endorsement in a relationship that has been very fraught recently. Let's not forget when the Iran war started between Israel and the U.S. on Iran, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the reason the U.S. joined the fight is because Israel was going to do it regardless. The war is incredibly unpopular in the United States. There are very real concerns among Republicans that it's going to cost their party power in the midterm elections. But first, the Israeli election is going to take place. In a brief interview with Axios, the president was asked if he would work with another Israeli leader. He reportedly said, maybe I will, maybe I won't. Who wants to take the chance? We're going to figure out if the Israelis are willing to take that chance, as he puts it, in the coming days. Patty Culhane, Al Jazeera, Washington. Well, earlier, my colleague Anna Burns-Francis spoke to Negar Motazavi, editor and host of the Iran podcast, and Alan Eyre, a former U.S. diplomat. She began by asking Negar why President Trump has publicly endorsed Netanyahu now. We know that Benjamin Netanyahu is the person who convinced President Trump to go to war with Iran two times. Last year, the 12-day war where Israel started it with green light, the U.S. joined, and then again this time essentially convincing President Trump that Tehran is a paper tiger about to fall. Let's go in for one last time. And it seems like this is now turning into Donald Trump's foreign policy legacy, and he really wants that big win in this war. So I'm thinking, the long-term thinking probably is that he wants his ally, the warrior, to stay. Then after the election and after the U.S. elections, potentially they can continue and maybe finish the job, as Benjamin Netanyahu has said that part even out louder. Alan, can I ask you, is any of this, given what Negar's just said, about saving face for the president, that actually he has to throw his support behind Benjamin Netanyahu? Because as Negar said, this was the guy who led him into war. Well, I think Prime Minister Netanyahu, to an extent, was pushing out an open door. But certainly Netanyahu wanted President Trump to attack and made a case, and Trump believed it. Yeah, you're quite right. If he were not to endorse Netanyahu, that would increase the suspicion that in some ways he felt betrayed by Netanyahu for putatively talking him into the war. And let's not forget, Donald Trump sees the world in terms of people and in terms of relationships. He has a relationship with Netanyahu. Often it is tempestuous. They don't always agree. But I think, as Nagar said quite aptly. Given that President Trump is going to be resuming bombing after the midterms in all probability, and given that Israel wants to continue attacking Iran until Iran collapses as a functioning state, I think both of them share a, there's a confluence of strategic goals here that in part predicated or necessitated Trump's endorsement. Negar, can I pick up on that point about the tense relationship that Alan just referred to? There have been months and months of reports of how difficult the relationship has been between the two. Very fierce phone calls being reported, nearly word for word. Has something actually changed in the depth of that relationship now? I don't know if everything has changed. I mean, I'm expecting more of the disagreement to resurface again. But also just to build on what Alan was saying, I think this may also have sort of a reverse message. because we know there is a conflict of interest right now as far as timing. More escalation may be beneficial for Benjamin Netanyahu with elections coming up. More war in Iran could potentially help him. This is going to be a tough election for him. You know, the result is not clear. But more escalation is not going to be good for Donald Trump. His party is losing one, potentially two houses of the U.S. Congress because of this war. So there could also be a message here that here's your endorsement. Don't escalate. Let's at least wait until after the midterm elections. Yeah, Ellen, it does seem that it would be bad timing for Donald Trump to start bringing up Israel. Multiple studies have shown or seem to imply at least that support, American support for Israel has fallen or is at record lows at the moment. For Donald Trump to be raising it where a domestic audience will see it right ahead of midterms, is that not bringing negative coverage to his corner at the moment? It could well be. But don't forget that this president, more than most, lives in an information bubble. The news that he is seeing that his people are presenting to him is not the news that you and I are seeing. And so it could well be that he has a vastly different and perhaps more optimistic view of what's going on, what's likely in the midterm elections, how he's being perceived than the information that you and I have. Don't forget, every time he sees information he doesn't like, he calls it fake news. Anytime he sees statistics that don't accord with what he's saying, he says they're fake statistics. So yes, Israel is not a popular policy area for him domestically. There's certainly no domestic upside to him in terms of our upcoming midterms in endorsing Netanyahu. But then again, he's shown that even though he's concerned about the midterms in the U.S., he's not going to let that force what he wants to do in terms of foreign policy, where he sees it as more of a legacy issue. Can I talk about the fact that obviously Netanyahu is happy with this endorsement? He's come out and he's reiterated the comments. How does that play to his voter base when you're talking about the fact it is a close election? I mean, I haven't seen any statistics as far as right after this endorsement, but I think in general he has built and capitalized on this kind of support from any U.S. president, which is important for Israel. You know, this country that has essentially a blank check from the United States militarily, financially, diplomatically, you know, endless vetoes at the U.S. Security Council and all of that to have to continue to have the support of the United States, regardless of who is the president. So it's something that he has boasted about, he's been proud of, and especially now that Israel has entangled itself in so many wars in the region, I think having the support of the U.S. and now this U.S. president who, you know, was convinced to start two wars on Iran on his behalf or with his conviction, I think it's important at least to his base. Well, there's strong opposition to the government within Israel. Protesters in Tel Aviv disrupted an event hosting far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gavir. Demonstrators staged a sit-in and chanted, Fascism will not pass, before police removed protesters from the venue. Ben-Gavir is a key member of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition government. His party, Otzma Yehudit, has been gaining support in recent polling.