‘We have to finish the job’: Trump doubles down on Netanyahu support after PM’s reported request

US President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his endorsement of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling Israelis he needed to be reelected on Tuesday so that the two leaders can “finish the job” against Iran.

The latest Truth Social post came one week after Trump first endorsed Netanyahu, and hours after an Axios news site report revealed that the Israeli premier had been pressing the US president to issue another public expression of support as repeated polls indicate that the prime minister’s current coalition is far off from a majority.

“To the people of Israel, to those who haven’t seen it, I am attaching the endorsement I gave one week ago to your prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in a post that also includes the one from last week when he first endorsed him.

“As everyone is aware, including the enemy, Bibi and I have had a great relationship in winning together,” Trump continued.

“I did the Venezuelan attack, one of the most successful military operations in history but, before that, we did Operation Midnight Hammer, stopping the world’s number one state sponsor of terror from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

“Then we did Operation Epic Fury, and Iran now has no navy, no air force, and both their military and economy are in shambles, including the fact that Iran’s Inflation is at 301%. The naval blockade has precluded them from getting oil, and two levels of leadership, both military and otherwise are gone,” Trump claimed.

“When you go to the Polls please remember that Bibi has been an outstanding warrior prime minister! Israel was called the little satan, with the United States being called the big satan, by some very evil people,” he said, apparently referring to chants from pro-regime rallies in Iran.

“There can no longer be the chant heard around the world of ‘Death to America, death to Israel,’ and there won’t be,” Trump continued.

“Vote for Bibi Netanyahu for prime minister, we have to finish the job that we started!” he added.

Netanyahu and his allies paraded the initial endorsement, while the premier’s opponents said they respected Trump, but that Israelis would choose their leaders.

The mercurial US leader long ago abandoned the norm of US presidents not intervening in the elections of allied countries, and has on numerous occasions endorsed candidates in various nations.

Many media reports had previously portrayed Trump as frustrated with Netanyahu for allegedly making lofty promises of a quick victory over Iran at the start of the year, which did not eventually pan out.

Tensions were reported to rise when Washington decided to halt the campaign against Tehran and seek an accord, with Israel wary of the sides reaching a deal that would harm its security.

In June, as Israel’s continued strikes in Lebanon frustrated Iran peace talks and drew expletive-laden criticism of Netanyahu from Trump, the US president said he would “most likely” endorse the premier’s reelection bid but would first have to see who else was running.

Despite their disagreements, Trump and Netanyahu have continued to insist they have a good working relationship.

Trump’s call to finish the job followed Netanyahu’s own warning on Sunday over Iran, in which he posted an AI-generated image depicting a nuclear explosion in Tel Aviv, telling the public just two days before the election that voting for anyone other than him could expose Israelis to the danger of a “second Holocaust.”

The post argued that Israel has a limited window of opportunity to confront Iran while Trump remains in office, warning that future generations “will not forgive us if we miss this historic window of opportunity.”

The post shared by Netanyahu contradicted the prime minister’s own repeated insistence that Israel and the US devastated Iran’s nuclear program during the 2025 and 2026 conflicts with Tehran. Netanyahu said at the UN last month that “we devastated Iran’s atomic weapons” in the past year. The Israeli leader had also said in a statement in March that, as a result of Israel’s strikes, Iran can “no longer threaten our existence.”

Netanyahu has recently been accused by critics of pushing for a renewal of the war against Iran to influence or delay the October 27 vote — a charge he has denied.

Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir are reportedly engaged in an “unprecedented confrontation” surrounding an instruction by the prime minister for unspecified military action that defense officials believe could lead to a swift confrontation with Iran shortly before the election.

Channel 12 news, which cited anonymous sources, said on Sunday Zamir had been resisting carrying out the military action, no details of which were provided, and sought further deliberations, as well as signed documentation from Netanyahu regarding legal authorization for it.

The issue had come to a head in the past 24 hours, the outlet said, noting that its report was being broadcast within the limitations of Israel’s military censorship regulations.

Israel and the US jointly launched the war on Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize its regime and destroy its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. Trump’s Republicans have hemorrhaged support ahead of next month’s US midterm elections, as gas prices have soared due to the war.

In June, Iran agreed with the United States to a memorandum of understanding laying out a pathway to a permanent settlement of the conflict, only for the deal to quickly unravel as each side accused the other of violating it.

Tehran has since called for a return to talks to end the conflict. According to sources, Qatari mediators were in Tehran on Sunday as part of an effort to de-escalate regional tensions in coordination with the US, though the extent of the meeting was not reported.

Last week, a report said the US and Israel have drawn up plans for renewed military strikes on Iran following the American midterm elections on November 3, while other reports, denied by Netanyahu, said the premier’s desire to attack the Islamic Republic has been held back by Trump, who wants to wait until after the upcoming ballot.

Lazar Berman and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.