Trump says his endorsement helped Netanyahu in Israel's close Knesset vote

Trump's claim

President Donald Trump says his public support for Benjamin Netanyahu changed the course of Israel's Knesset election, turning what he called a decisive defeat into a stalemate or even a win for the Israeli prime minister. He made the case in a Truth Social post on Tuesday, 27 October, in which he reproduced a comment attributed to Irving C. Schwartz. The post was published in quotation marks without making clear whether Trump was passing on the view of a television analyst or referring to himself in the third person.

“When President Trump endorsed Bibi Netanyahu, the whole tide turned”

The same post said the shift came after the endorsement and that the author wanted only what is good for the Middle East, Israel and the United States. The wording is consistent across English and Greek reports of the post, though the articles do not say when the endorsement itself was made.

Exit polls and partial count

The vote was the first in Israel since the October 7 attacks, and no clear winner had emerged. Israeli television networks broadcast exit polls overnight that showed the right-wing and far-right coalition led by Netanyahu and the bloc of his centrist rival, Gandi Eizenkot, heading for an exact tie. In the partial count, with 53.7% of polling stations counted, Netanyahu's bloc had 55 seats, six short of the 61 needed for a majority in the Knesset. The opposition bloc held 50 seats and the Arab parties 15.

Netanyahu bloc55

Opposition bloc50

Arab parties15

Netanyahu bloc

55 seats

Opposition bloc

50 seats

Arab parties

15 seats

Data from the article text

Counting was still under way when the reports were filed, so these seat totals are partial and may change. The exit-poll tie has not been confirmed by a final count in the articles.

Trump's remarks to reporters

Trump was asked by reporters travelling with him on the presidential aircraft about the Israeli results, following a rally in Texas. He said that, from what he understood of the exit polls, Netanyahu had done very well, and that the support he gave the prime minister had helped him considerably. Asked whether he had spoken with Netanyahu after the first results came in, Trump said he had not held a conversation with him.

The remarks and the Truth Social post came from the same account of the vote, but the articles do not tie the two to a precise hour. Trump's claim of credit therefore rests on his own words rather than on any result published so far.

Sequence of the vote and reaction

The timeline below places the election, the overnight exit polls and the partial count in order. Each step is taken from the reporting, and the final result is not yet in the articles.

As of the latest reports, the vote has produced no clear majority for either side. Netanyahu's bloc needs six more seats to reach 61, and Trump's account of the endorsement has not been tested against a final count.