Donald Trump calls Netanyahu "strong, brave and brilliant in the face of tremendous opposition"

Israelis voted on Tuesday in Knesset elections, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeking another term after 19 years in power. Opinion polls pointed to a close race in which neither his Likud-led bloc nor an opposition alliance around Gadi Eisenkot was expected to win the 61-seat majority needed to govern. Before voting opened, US President Donald Trump issued a social-media endorsement of Netanyahu and referred to the unresolved confrontation with Iran, warning that Washington might have to act if Israel had a different leader. Betting markets reportedly put Eisenkot ahead. The election was the first chance for voters to respond to the October 7 security failure and the later conflicts with Hamas and Iran, and forming a government could take weeks or months.