(FILES) US President Donald Trump (L) holds hands and speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on October 13, 2025. Trump on October 18, 2026, endorsed his ally Benjamin Netanyahu before Israel’s close-fought parliamentary election on October 27 when the veteran prime minister will try to win a new mandate. “Bibi Netanyahu has been Strong, Brave, and Brilliant in the face of tremendous opposition, including that coming from even Israel, itself,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, using a common nickname for the Israeli leader. “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. Please let this Letter serve to represent my Complete and Total Endorsement of Bibi Netanyahu in his upcoming Race for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Israel.” (Photo by SAUL LOEB / POOL / AFP)
US President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday he expected him to win a “tremendous” election victory next week, with the Israeli leader suggesting they may again attack Iran together.
A day after Trump publicly endorsed Netanyahu in the close-fought October 27 election, the Israeli premier put out a video of the two right-wing leaders lavishing praise on each other by telephone.
“I think you’re going to have a tremendous victory, actually,” Trump can be heard saying, with Netanyahu putting his mobile on speakerphone.
“You’re the man I want by my side, Bibi,” Trump said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.
Netanyahu — while reminding the famously loose-lipped president that they were on an open line — hailed Trump for joining Israel in attacking Iran, a decades-long goal of Israel’s longest-serving prime minister.
“Donald, we have a job to finish,” Netanyahu said. “We’ll finish it together. We’ll finish it, and no one else will do it.”
Netanyahu did not elaborate but again described Iran’s clerical state, which remains in power nearly eight months after the joint massive attack, as “the greatest danger”.
AFP
