Middle East

Trump endorses Netanyahu days before Israeli election, warns US will 'finish the job' against Iran alone if Bibi loses

Far-right Ben-Gvir polls ahead of Labor's successors as three-quarters of first-time Jewish voters lean right

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Netanyahu says if he is re-elected, his partnership with Trump will bring peace Netanyahu says if he is re-elected, his partnership with Trump will bring peace foxnews.com
President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago. President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago. foxnews.com
Benjamin Netanyahu: The Iranian people have been taken captive by 'ideological thugs' Benjamin Netanyahu: The Iranian people have been taken captive by 'ideological thugs' foxnews.com
Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands after a press conference Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands after a press conference foxnews.com
Rightwing leader and rabbi Meir Kahane carried by supporters through the streets of Jerusalem after he won a seat in the Israeli parliament in July 1984. Photograph: AP Rightwing leader and rabbi Meir Kahane carried by supporters through the streets of Jerusalem after he won a seat in the Israeli parliament in July 1984. Photograph: AP theguardian.com
Young supporters of Itamar Ben-Gvir shout slogans as he tours a market during a meet and greet in Ramla on 14 October. Photograph: Ilia Yefimovich/AFP/Getty Images Young supporters of Itamar Ben-Gvir shout slogans as he tours a market during a meet and greet in Ramla on 14 October. Photograph: Ilia Yefimovich/AFP/Getty Images theguardian.com
A mural titled RUN by artist Alexsandro Palombo, depicting Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and politician Gadi Eisenkot wearing bulletproof vests and carrying batons as they chase Bart Simpson, portrayed as a young Hamas fighter, in Tel Aviv. Photograph: Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images A mural titled RUN by artist Alexsandro Palombo, depicting Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and politician Gadi Eisenkot wearing bulletproof vests and carrying batons as they chase Bart Simpson, portrayed as a young Hamas fighter, in Tel Aviv. Photograph: Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images theguardian.com
People protest outside the Israeli high court in support of granting Arab parties the right to run in the upcoming general elections. Photograph: Debbie Hill/UPI/Shutterstock People protest outside the Israeli high court in support of granting Arab parties the right to run in the upcoming general elections. Photograph: Debbie Hill/UPI/Shutterstock theguardian.com
Gadi Eisenkot, former Israeli army chief of staff and head of the Yashar party, delivers a statement during a press conference at the Black Arrow memorial site near the Mefalsim kibbutz, adjacent to the Gaza Strip, on 15 October. Photograph: Ilia Yefimovich/AFP/Getty Images Gadi Eisenkot, former Israeli army chief of staff and head of the Yashar party, delivers a statement during a press conference at the Black Arrow memorial site near the Mefalsim kibbutz, adjacent to the Gaza Strip, on 15 October. Photograph: Ilia Yefimovich/AFP/Getty Images theguardian.com

Nine days before Israel's election, Donald Trump has endorsed Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party in a public letter, calling the prime minister a 'great warrior' and a 'partner for peace' — and warning that if Israelis elect the wrong leader, 'America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so.' The endorsement reframes a domestic Israeli vote as a referendum on continuing Washington's multi-front war against Iran.

Trump's intervention is unusually direct for a patron state. The US president, who once rebuked Netanyahu for firing on Iran and said the warring countries did not know what the 'F' they were doing, now presents the American alliance as conditional on one man staying in office. Netanyahu replied on X: 'Thank you, President Trump for the tremendous support and the joint work. Together, we will complete the mission.'

The arithmetic may not cooperate. Israelis vote for party lists in the 120-seat Knesset on 27 October, and current forecasts give Likud roughly 18–22 seats, with a Netanyahu-aligned right-religious bloc projected at about 49–51 — short of the 61 needed to govern. Smaller parties hold the balance.

Whatever the coalition maths, the next Knesset is expected to be more rightwing than the current one. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister convicted in 1998 over bumper stickers reading 'Rabbi Kahane was right', now polls at nine seats for his Jewish Strength party — more than the eight forecast for the Democrats, successor to the Labor party of Rabin, Peres and Meir. At a rally this week Ben-Gvir mixed calls for ethnic cleansing with jokes about starving Palestinian prisoners.

The shift is generational. More than 500,000 Israelis have reached voting age since 2022, and a Channel 12 poll found three-quarters of first-time Jewish voters define themselves as right or centre-right — a cohort that came of age after Oslo collapsed and were teenagers during the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023. Analyst Dahlia Scheindlin notes young Israelis buck the global trend by being more rightwing than their parents.

Four decades ago, the Knesset passed a law to keep Meir Kahane from running again after he won a single seat. Today his heirs poll ahead of Labor's successors, and the American president campaigns openly for the man who would govern alongside them.