Trump Endorses Netanyahu; Herzog Says No Outside Pressure Will Decide Who Forms Israel’s Govt

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has said that the decision on who will lead Israel after Tuesday’s election will be taken without outside pressure. Herzog, who will be called on to invite a member of the Knesset to form a government, spoke as US President Donald Trump endorsed incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud-led coalition for the second time.

HERZOG: ‘THE DISCRETION HAS TO BE BASED ON FACTS’

Speaking to the US network MS NOW, Herzog said he would not bow to pressure from Trump. “I don’t think the President of the United States or anybody else can intervene in my discretion,” he said. “The discretion has to be based on certain facts, and we will see what the facts are... There will be a lot of pressure, though, regardless.”

He said he has “huge respect” for Trump and welcomes any dialogue, but that the decision will be his, and his alone.

TRUMP’S SECOND ENDORSEMENT

Trump posted on Truth Social: “When you go to the Polls, please remember that Bibi has been an outstanding Warrior Prime Minister!” He recalled that Israel had been called “The Little Satan” and the United States “The Big Satan,” and said the chant of “Death to America, Death to Israel” could no longer be heard around the world. “Vote for Bibi Netanyahu for Prime Minister,” he wrote. “We have to finish the job that we started.”

Netanyahu has since shared the post on his own X account.

NETANYAHU’S ‘EXISTENTIAL DANGER’ POST

On Sunday, Netanyahu used the endorsement to paint a grim picture of what happens if his coalition loses. He posted an AI-generated image of a nuclear explosion in Tel Aviv, warning that voting for anyone but him could expose Israelis to a “second Holocaust.”

The post quoted the right-wing activist Yuval Blumberg: “The State of Israel is in real and tangible existential danger. If the Iranians acquire nuclear weapons, nothing will ever be the same again.”

It continued: “We have another two years of Trump to finish the work in Iran... This is the window of time we have left.” That, it said, “won’t happen with a prime minister who can’t pick up the phone and have a continuous, intimate conversation with Trump.”

EISENKOT: ‘TRUMP WILL WORK WITH ANY LEADER’

Netanyahu’s main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, played down the endorsement. “Donald Trump is a true friend of Israel,” he said. “I appreciate his actions and commitment to Israel’s security, and I am convinced that he will work in full cooperation with any leader chosen by the people.”

Addressing Israelis, he said he believed they would choose “according to the dictates of your conscience and for the future of the State of Israel.” A large-margin victory over the Likud, he said, would ensure change and bring about “the victory of the majority of the Zionist state-oriented camp in Israel.”

HOW ISRAEL ELECTS ITS GOVERNMENT

Israel uses party-list proportional representation. Voters choose a list, and each list gets seats in the Knesset in proportion to its share of the vote. Only lists that win at least 3.25 per cent of valid votes take part in the allocation of seats. The Knesset has 120 members.

With inputs from ANI