Trump Leaves Open the Possibility of Supporting Netanyahu in the Election

A date for the Knesset election has not yet been set. The law stipulates that it must be held by October 27, 2026. According to current polls, the incumbent governing coalition is set to lose its parliamentary majority.

In the 2019 election, the Israeli prime minister was still featured on giant banners alongside U.S. President Trump under the slogan “Netanyahu—in a league of his own.”

Recently, Trump has voiced public criticism of Netanyahu to an unusual degree. For example, he described him as a “very difficult guy” and accused him of lacking judgment. He also criticized the Israeli army’s actions in Lebanon.

According to the *Wall Street Journal*, these differences are increasingly straining the relationship between the two politicians. Trump’s frustration with Netanyahu reportedly boiled over at times in recent weeks, as he tried to end the war with Iran while the Israeli prime minister was intent on continuing the fight, the report said. The paper quoted a high-ranking government official as saying that Netanyahu typically pushes for increased military operations in phone calls with Trump, and that the U.S. president has had enough of it by now.