FILE – President Donald Trump listens as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago membership, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla.

Alex Brandon/AP

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Alex Brandon/AP

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump on Sunday endorsed embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late in his reelection marketing campaign, a coveted increase because of Trump’s reputation but one that the American had withheld for months as the vote neared and the leaders’ methods in the Middle East diverged.

Trump said in a submit on social media that Netanyahu “has been a Great Warrior Prime Minister, and an even greater Partner for Peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Israelis are set to vote Oct. 27, in the first nationwide elections since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The absence of an endorsement was a setback for the Likud politician, who had billed his tight ties to the Republican president as a promoting level for staying in energy.

“Thank you, President Trump, for the tremendous support and work together,” Netanyahu said in a assertion in Hebrew posted on X. “Together we will complete the mission!”

His Likud Party connected to the assertion a 35-second video displaying clips of the two leaders collectively and Trump praising Netanyahu.

It was not instantly clear what influence the endorsement would have on what is expected to be a tight race. Trump is still in style in Israel, but many Israelis, including main commentators, have expressed disappointment over the inconclusive end result of the Iran warfare and Trump’s ceasefire proposal, which fell brief of many of the nations’ key targets when they collectively launched the warfare in February.

In his submit, Trump again threatened to “soon finish the job” against Iran “unless they change their ways, rapidly,” but added he might not need to if Netanyahu loses the election. “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 said.

He said Netanyahu had been “Strong, Brave, and Brilliant in the face of tremendous opposition, including that coming from even Israel, itself.”

Trump endorsed Netanyahu in previous elections and in November he despatched a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog asking him to pardon Netanyahu on corruption prices.

But Trump’s feedback about Netanyahu in current months had been much more subdued, and he repeatedly demurred when asking if he would back the prime minister. The president, when requested in a Time journal interview printed this month about backing the Israeli chief, said, “I’m not involved in politics anymore,” despite his campaigning for and endorsing U.S. politicians.

Trump, particularly in his second time period, has sought to give his stamp of approval to candidates in international elections and claimed credit score when they have been profitable. He endorsed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in his unsuccessful bid for a fifth time period, as properly as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Polish President Karol Nawrocki, and several Latin American leaders.

Trump and Netanyahu have been shut allies and appeared more aligned than ever in the wake of the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear amenities in 2025. But over the course of the almost eight-month warfare with Iran this yr, they have had disagreements.

Trump criticized Israel’s choice to attack a key Iranian fuel subject in the first weeks of the warfare. In June, he called Netanyahu “crazy.” Trump also said that he was “a little bit perturbed” as Israel’s preventing with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon was holding back peace talks with Iran.

Beyond Iran, Netanyahu in August rejected Trump’s newest plan to advance a stalled ceasefire in Gaza, pushing back on the U.S. administration’s call for Israel to withdraw from territory it controls in Gaza until Hamas has been disarmed.