Despite long history with Netanyahu, Trump hedges as Israel vote nears

Washington, DC, United States – Since first entering the White House in 2017, US President Donald Trump has delivered on a right-wing Israeli wish list and pursued a foreign policy that has helped buoy Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political fortunes.The Israeli leader has, in turn, portrayed himself as the best steward of Israel’s most significant foreign relationship, weathering a handful of public criticisms and leaked discontents from Trump that have yielded little concrete policy change.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Palestine weekly: Olive harvest opens under assaultlist 2 of 3Do Israelis feel any safer now than they did on October 6, 2023?list 3 of 3Board of Peace plans $2.4bn Gaza reconstruction as Israel kills sevenend of listBut despite the pair’s long history, Trump has so far taken a decidedly ho-hum approach to the October 27 Israeli election. The vote sees Netanyahu’s Likud party and the far-right coalition it leads under increasing threat from Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot and an opposition bloc he seeks to build.It is an – at least public – ambivalence likely fuelled by shifting political winds in both the US and Israel, as well as t...