Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has, in recent days, appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump for greater public support for his election campaign, according to a U.S. source familiar with the matter and an Israeli source briefed on the efforts, Axios has revealed.
The U.S. source stated that the White House views Netanyahu’s intense pressure as a “sign of desperation” and an indication that he believes he is trailing in the election race.
According to the same source, Netanyahu spoke with Trump twice over the past three days, requesting increased support—following an earlier endorsement Trump had posted on the platform “Truth Social.” The source added that Netanyahu even suggested specific wording for additional statements of support, while an Israeli source noted that he also proposed that Trump reach out to Israeli journalists to that end.
Conversely, Neta Molcho, a spokesperson for the Likud party, denied that Netanyahu had asked Trump to support his campaign in recent days or prior to the initial endorsement. About two weeks ago, in an interview with the channel “Newsmax,” Trump had mentioned that individuals in Israel had asked him to intervene on Netanyahu’s behalf.
Yesterday evening, Trump reiterated his support for the Israeli Prime Minister, urging Israelis to vote for him and highlighting his hardline stance on Iran. On the “Truth Social” platform, he wrote: “As everyone knows including the enemy Bibi and I have a great relationship, and we have achieved victories together… When you head to the polls, please remember that Bibi has been an exceptional wartime prime minister!”
He added: “The chants heard around the world—’Death to America, Death to ‘Israel’ must not be allowed to resurface, and they won’t. Vote for Bibi Netanyahu for Prime Minister; we must finish the mission we started!”
Meanwhile, Axios reported that some of Trump’s advisors believe that a different figure as Israel’s prime minister might offer better opportunities to advance Washington’s agenda in the Middle East—despite the former U.S. president’s public endorsement of Netanyahu ahead of tomorrow’s elections.
An ‘Unprecedented’ Confrontation Between Netanyahu and Zamir
In the same vein, Israel’s Channel 12 revealed what it described as an “unprecedented” confrontation between Netanyahu and Eyal Zamir, a senior military official. The dispute arose over political directives to carry out a military operation that could trigger a new confrontation with Iran. Within the military establishment, there are concerns that the “Iran file” is being exploited for electoral gain ahead of tomorrow’s parliamentary elections.
According to the channel, Zamir recently received directives from the political leadership to execute an operation—the nature of which was not disclosed. In response, he demanded an in-depth discussion on the matter, as well as the provision of legal documentation and formal signatures from the political leadership authorizing the operation to proceed. The channel quoted a security official warning that the proposed operation “could lead to a brief confrontation with Iran at a highly sensitive moment, and result in a miscalculation of the situation.” Meanwhile, informed sources indicated that there are concerns within the military establishment that the political leadership might exploit the Iran issue to gain electoral momentum.
According to the channel, this tension was evident during a meeting between Netanyahu and Zamir yesterday at the Palmachim Airbase, with two sources describing the atmosphere as “extremely strained.” In contrast, officials within the political leadership denied accusations that they were attempting to exploit the Iran file for electoral purposes, dismissing them as “an outright lie.” In an interview with the Hebrew-language Channel 14, Netanyahu also denied any rift with the Chief of Staff, stating, “There is no animosity whatsoever toward the Chief of Staff.”
Source: Axios