Despite praise and White House visits, Trump avoids endorsing Netanyahu

What the report says

US President Donald Trump did not explicitly endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Time magazine interview published on Thursday, even as he repeated praise for Netanyahu and pointed to his own record of support for Israel. The exchange came ahead of Israel’s upcoming elections, with Trump saying he was “not involved in politics” there while stressing that he remains popular in Israel.

According to Al Jazeera, Trump used the interview to highlight policies such as moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and continuing security assistance to Israel. He also defended Netanyahu when asked about reports that Egyptian and Emirati officials had warned him about the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, saying he believed Netanyahu would have acted if he had known. Trump added that Netanyahu, whom he calls “Bibi,” had been underestimated before.

The article says Trump has met Netanyahu frequently during his second term and hosted him at the White House in July, despite reported tensions between the two leaders. It also notes that Trump’s comments come amid political sensitivity in the United States over the war in Gaza and the wider conflict with Iran, which Al Jazeera says have affected domestic debate ahead of the November midterm elections. Separately, Trump said he did not know enough to judge whether security support for Israel would change if opposition figure Gadi Eisenkot won the Israeli vote.