US President Donald Trump on Sunday gave his “complete and total endorsement” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his re-election campaign.
Writing in a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump praised Mr Netanyahu as a “great warrior prime minister, and an even greater partner for peace in combating the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
“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,” Mr Trump wrote.
The endorsement comes nine days before Israel's parliamentary election on October 27, which could determine whether Mr Netanyahu remains in power. The vote is the first to be held since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, plunging the region into conflict as Israel responded by going to war in Gaza and Lebanon.
In February, Israel joined the US in launching co-ordinated strikes against Iran, killing the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran responded by lashing out against its regional neighbours, damaging critical infrastructure and halting the flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Mr Trump said Iran's anti-Israel and anti-US rhetoric showed the threat the regime posed to the region. He also said the Iranian regime has been “systematically destroyed, both militarily and financially, and unless they change their ways, rapidly, we will soon finish the job”.
Mr Netanyahu thanked Mr Trump in a post on X. “Thank you, President Trump, for the tremendous support and work together,” he wrote. "Together we will complete the mission!”
The endorsement is seen as a major boost for Mr Netanyahu, who is in a close race to retain his position as the Iran war and conflicts in the West Bank and Gaza test his popularity. Mr Trump said Mr Netanyahu has been “brilliant in the face of tremendous opposition, including that coming from even Israel, itself”.
“Despite all of that, he has endured and, in fact, he has thrived! I have watched Bibi under the most trying of times. Normal men or women in such situations would have wilted under the pressure – But Bibi did not wilt, he actually got stronger, and maintains that same Strength today,” Mr Trump wrote, referring to the Prime Minister by his nickname.
And with the Iran war set to cross the eight-month mark later this month, Mr Trump suggested he might not have the appetite to “finish the job” alone if Mr Trump loses his re-election bid.
“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,” Mr Trump wrote.
Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu have had close ties, although the Israeli leader's failure to toe his US counterpart's line on Gaza, Lebanon and Iran has caused friction.
The President stopped short of offering an endorsement as recently as Thursday, saying he doesn't “trust anybody” in politics. In June, he called Mr Netanyahu “crazy” during a heated phone call, adding he was “a little bit perturbed” as Israel's fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon was stalling peace talks with Iran.
