Washington, Oct 19:
US President Donald Trump endorsed his ally Benjamin Netanyahu before Israel’s close-fought parliamentary election on October 27, providing a boost to the veteran prime minister’s bid to win a new mandate.
Netanyahu touted his close relationship with the US president in a video released by his Likud party, saying that together they had “crushed Iran” and adding that re-election would allow him to work with Trump to “elminate the Iranian threat over the next two years, or even sooner”.
The endorsement comes less than two weeks before Israel’s first vote since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack, which opposition politicians have accused Netanyahu of bearing personal responsibility for after allegedly ignoring warnings.