President Donald Trump gave Benjamin Netanyahu his “Complete and Total Endorsement” on Truth Social on Sunday, backing the Israeli prime minister before next week’s parliamentary election and praising him as a US ally in its war on Iran.
On Monday, Vice President JD Vance declined to offer the same support. “I'm not anti-endorsing him, but I'm not pro-endorsing him; I'm not getting involved in Israeli elections,” Vance said in an interview.
Later that day, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made an unannounced visit to Israel and met Netanyahu, exactly a week before the Knesset election.
There was no immediate indication of what Hegseth and Netanyahu discussed. The Pentagon and Israel’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Reuters could not immediately confirm the visit.
The meeting took place as the two countries discuss the possibility of resuming the war against Iran.
Vance said his attention was on domestic politics. “I endorse American candidates, and that's where I'm focused on is the midterms,” he said. Earlier this year, Vance travelled to Budapest and endorsed Viktor Orban in the Hungarian election.
Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist coalition is projected by opinion polls to lose its governing majority. A Channel 13 News poll published on Monday evening put Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc on 51 Knesset seats and Netanyahu’s on 50, if an election were held that day. A Channel 12 News poll released the same evening gave Eisenkot’s bloc 55 seats and Netanyahu’s 51.
The opposition may also struggle to form a government, according to opinion polls. The vote will be Israel’s first since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks in 2023 and the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Elsewhere in the campaign, the Lod municipality removed Joint List election signs from public property while signs for Jewish parties remained. Accounts and documentation obtained by Haaretz showed Joint List signs being taken down at at least two locations in Lod.
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