'Anyone other than Bibi is the wrong leader': Trump urges Israelis to reelect Netanyahu

U.S. President Donald Trump posted a message of support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday afternoon, marking his first public endorsement of Netanyahu in Israel's current election campaign. Netanyahu thanked Trump shortly afterward for his support. In a lengthy post addressed "To the Great People of Israel," Trump praised Netanyahu as a "Great Warrior Prime Minister" and an even greater partner for peace, arguing that his leadership had been essential to confronting the Islamic Republic. He concluded with an explicit declaration of political support: "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." Trump tied his endorsement directly to the conflict with Iran, accusing Tehran of threatening the existence of Israel and the United States for decades. Citing the Iranian regime's calls for "Death to Israel, Death to America," he argued that Iran would eventually have acted on those threats if its military and financial capabilities had not been severely weakened. "It would have been only a question of time until Iran would have put that ominous phrase into effect," Trump wrote, claiming that the Islamic Republic had been "systematically destroyed, both Militarily and Financially." He warned that unless Iran rapidly changed course, "we will soon finish the job." The president then issued a warning about the consequences of an Israeli leadership change, suggesting that Netanyahu's continued tenure was necessary to maintain the current American-Israeli approach toward Iran. "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," he wrote. Trump went on to describe Netanyahu as "Strong, Brave, and Brilliant" despite what he characterized as tremendous opposition, including from within Israel. He said he had personally watched the prime minister withstand extraordinary pressure and emerge stronger. "Normal men or women in such situations would have wilted under the pressure," Trump wrote. "But Bibi did not wilt, he actually got stronger, and maintains that same Strength today." Trump also framed the endorsement in terms of Washington's expectations of its closest Middle Eastern ally, saying Netanyahu represented the kind of partner the United States demanded from a country for which it had done so much. The post ended with a direct appeal to Israeli voters and an unequivocal statement of confidence in the prime minister: "BIBI NETANYAHU WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!" Trump's remarks constitute an explicit intervention in Israel's election campaign by a sitting U.S. president, tying Netanyahu's political future to the confrontation with Iran and the future of American-Israeli security cooperation.