JERUSALEM — US President Donald Trump endorsed his ally Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday ahead of Israel’s closely fought parliamentary election on Oct 27, giving the veteran prime minister a boost in his bid for 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 that re-election would allow him to work with Trump to “eliminate the Iranian threat over the next two years, or even sooner”.

The endorsement comes less than two weeks before Israel’s first election since the Oct 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack, for which opposition politicians have accused Netanyahu of bearing personal responsibility after allegedly ignoring warnings.

Trump and Netanyahu, who polls show is in a tight election race, have worked closely together on Israel’s multi-front wars following the Hamas-led attack, including strikes on Iran. The endorsement could bolster Netanyahu’s re-election campaign.

“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.”