President Trump delivered an unusually direct public endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's re-election bid on Sunday, posting a lengthy message on Truth Social addressed to the Israeli people just over a week before the country heads to the polls, according to CBS News.

Trump called Netanyahu a "Great Warrior Prime Minister" and "an even greater Partner for Peace" in confronting Iran, writing that the Israeli leader had been "Strong, Brave, and Brilliant" despite opposition — including from within Israel — and had "actually got stronger" under pressure that would have broken others. He closed the post by telling Israelis, "BIBI NETANYAHU WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!" and said his backing was "Complete and Total," per reporting from Middle East Eye.

The endorsement marks a shift after Trump spent months withholding public support as the two leaders' approaches to the Middle East diverged. Earlier this month he told Time magazine he was "not involved in politics anymore" when asked whether Israelis should give Netanyahu another term.

A warning wrapped in the endorsement

Trump tied his backing explicitly to Iran, repeating a threat to "finish the job soon" against Tehran unless it "changes its ways, rapidly." He went further, suggesting Washington's continued involvement depends on who wins.

"If Israel has the wrong Leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so."

Netanyahu responded quickly on X, thanking Trump for his "tremendous support and the joint work" and declaring, "Together we will complete the mission!" In a follow-up video message carried by multiple outlets, he said he was "honored and humbled" and argued no U.S. president had ever been a greater friend to Israel, while linking a weakened Iran to lower gas prices worldwide.

Israelis vote October 27 in the first national election since the October 2023 Hamas attack, and polling cited by wire service reporting and Middle East Eye shows a knife-edge race: a Maariv survey published the same day put Netanyahu's coalition and the opposition bloc tied at 51 seats apiece, both short of the 61 needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. Former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, now leading the centrist Yashar party, is Netanyahu's chief rival and currently leads him in head-to-head preferred-PM polling, 48% to 41%, according to Middle East Eye's report.

Netanyahu's governing coalition — described by multiple outlets as the most nationalist and religious in Israel's history — has faced sustained domestic criticism over security failures tied to the 2023 Hamas attack and international criticism over settler violence and the conduct of the Gaza and Iran campaigns. Trump's intervention gives him a high-profile boost from Washington in the campaign's final stretch, though it remains to be seen whether it moves undecided voters before the Oct. 27 vote.