Netanyahu lobbying Trump for more election support: report

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked US President Donald Trump to provide additional support for his election campaign ahead of Israel's Knesset vote, Israel's Channel 2 reported on Sunday.

The channel cited a US source familiar with the details and a separate Israeli source who had been briefed on the matter, saying Netanyahu had stepped up his contacts with Trump in recent days in an effort to secure new statements supporting his continued tenure as prime minister.

The US source told the channel that Netanyahu had spoken with Trump twice over the previous three days and asked him to strengthen the endorsement he had expressed the previous week on the Truth Social platform. The source added that Netanyahu had personally proposed wording for additional statements of support that the US president could issue before the election.

The channel also quoted an Israeli source briefed on the communications as saying that Netanyahu had suggested Trump make phone calls to Israeli journalists to express his support for him, in an attempt to amplify the US president’s position during the final days of the election campaign.

According to the US source, White House officials view Netanyahu’s repeated attempts to secure additional support as a “sign of desperation” and an indication that the Israeli prime minister believes he is trailing in the electoral race.

The Likud Party, however, denied the report, insisting that Netanyahu had not asked Trump for any support, either in recent days or before Trump first announced his endorsement. The Israeli prime minister’s office declined to comment, while the White House had not immediately responded to the channel’s request for comment.

Regarding the White House’s calculations, the channel quoted a US official as saying that Trump’s support for Netanyahu could serve the US president’s interests regardless of the election outcome. If Netanyahu wins or remains prime minister in a caretaker government, Trump could claim credit for politically rescuing him and use that leverage to pressure him into making concessions.

If Netanyahu loses and his rivals succeed in forming a new government, its leaders would have an interest in maintaining good relations with Trump, potentially diminishing the significance of his support for their opponent. The channel noted that some of Trump’s advisers see an opportunity to advance his Middle East agenda through an Israeli government led by someone other than Netanyahu, despite the close relationship between the two men, which has also experienced periods of tension.

On October 18, US President Donald Trump announced his full support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset elections, following weeks of hesitation about publicly taking a position. On Truth Social, Trump suggested that electing a different prime minister could affect cooperation between the United States and Israel, particularly on confronting Iran. He described Netanyahu as a key partner for Washington.