President Trump gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu his “Complete and Total Endorsement” on Sunday, nine days before Israel votes, and tied it directly to the war with 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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, France 24 reported.
He called Netanyahu “Strong, Brave, and Brilliant” and wrote that “BIBI NETANYAHU WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” Al Jazeera reported. Netanyahu thanked him, calling the endorsement “extraordinary.”
Why did Trump endorse Netanyahu now?
Netanyahu is in trouble. Israel votes Oct. 27, and polls suggest his Likud-led coalition could fall short of the 61 seats it needs to govern, with an opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot in a close race. Earlier this month, Trump declined to endorse anyone in an interview. Now he says, “I was always going to do that. I just didn’t want to do it too soon.”
Eisenkot said Israeli voters will decide and called the endorsement interference in a domestic matter. Some Israeli commentators agreed. Others read it as Trump trying to keep a partner who’ll share the load in Iran.
What does Trump’s Netanyahu endorsement mean for Americans?
The line about doing “this work ourselves” is the part to pay attention to. It suggests Trump sees Israel’s next government as a key piece of how the Iran war ends, or doesn’t. If Netanyahu loses, Trump is signaling the U.S. might pull back rather than take on more of the fight. If he wins, expect the joint campaign to keep going. Either way, it’s tied to what Americans pay at the pump and whether U.S. troops in the region stay in harm’s way.
It’s also unusual. American presidents usually avoid openly picking a side in an ally’s election, though Trump has done it before.
The BeezLoop Take
Trump endorsing a friend is nothing new. Trump telling Israeli voters that the U.S. may walk away from a shared war if they pick the wrong prime minister is something else. That’s not an endorsement so much as pressure, and Israelis are right to say their election is theirs to decide.
Americans should notice the other half of the message, too: the president is publicly saying he’s “not inclined” to do more in Iran himself. After eight months and the deadliest attack on U.S. troops still unexplained, that’s worth taking seriously, and worth asking what the plan actually is.
The open question: if Netanyahu loses on Oct. 27, does Trump scale back the Iran war, and what happens to U.S. troops in the region?
Also on BeezLoop: Trump ruled out a nuclear strike on Iran but not the ‘mother of all bombs’, and what’s documented about Trump, Musk and Russia.
Sources: Al Jazeera · France 24 · Al Jazeera English (video)
