The call followed Trump's Truth Social post a day earlier giving Netanyahu his "complete and total endorsement" and warning that if Israelis elect anyone else, the US would have to confront Iran alone, which he said he is "not inclined to do." In a subsequent interview with Axios and Israel's Channel 12, Trump said he had always intended to back Netanyahu and waited only to avoid doing it too early. Asked whether he could work with another Israeli prime minister, Trump replied, "Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Who wants to take the chance?"
Axios reported that several of Trump's closest advisers thought his Middle East agenda would fare better under a different Israeli government, and that Trump had privately called Netanyahu "his own worst enemy" and blamed him for failing to prevent the October 7 attacks. The intervention comes as polls project Netanyahu's Likud party falling to 20 to 22 seats in the 120-seat Knesset from 32 in 2022, trailing former army chief Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party. Eisenkot responded to Trump's endorsement by saying only Israeli citizens will decide the election.