US President Donald Trump portrayed his endorsement as a turning point in Benjamin Netanyahu’s electoral fortunes, offering the Israeli prime minister a political lifeline as preliminary results left his right-wing bloc short of a parliamentary majority.
Trump’s remarks underscored Washington’s role in sustaining Netanyahu’s political position as his right-wing and religious bloc sought to retain power amid deep divisions within Israeli society and mounting international condemnation of the Israeli regime’s criminal actions, including the genocide in Gaza.
Speaking to reporters after a campaign rally in Texas, Trump said Netanyahu had performed better than expected and attributed part of the shift to his endorsement.
“I hear he did very well. It’s pretty close, very good,” Trump said. “When the endorsement came out, it helped him a lot.”
He added that Netanyahu was “probably winning or tied,” while acknowledging that the outcome remained uncertain.
The comments followed a post on Trump’s Truth Social account that presented Netanyahu’s improved electoral prospects as a political turnaround following the US president’s intervention.
“When President Trump endorsed Bibi Netanyahu, the whole tide turned, and now, rather than a decisive defeat for a Great Prime Minister, it looks like a big come-from-behind stalemate, or even a WIN for Netanyahu,” the post read.
“It all took place AFTER the Endorsement by President Trump, who only wants what is good for the Middle East, Israel, and the United States of America!”
The post was presented entirely as a quotation attributed to Irving C. Schwartz, leaving it unclear whether Trump was repeating a commentator’s assessment or expressing his own view in the third person.
Meanwhile, preliminary election figures showed Netanyahu’s Likud party leading the rival Yashar party, headed by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot. With 41.09% of votes counted by 6:02 a.m. Wednesday, Likud was projected to win 28 seats against Yashar’s 21, according to figures from the Central Elections Committee.
Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc was projected to secure 57 seats, compared with 47 for the rival pro-change bloc, while predominantly Arab parties were projected to hold 16 seats. The figures left Netanyahu four seats short of the 61 needed for a parliamentary majority.
