Vance withholds an endorsement

US Vice President JD Vance said on Monday, 19 October, that he would not endorse Benjamin Netanyahu before Israel's parliamentary election on 27 October. In an interview with journalist Mark Halperin, which Berliner Zeitung says took place on board Air Force Two, Vance rejected both options. He said he was neither for nor against an endorsement and would not interfere in Israeli politics. He made the remarks while campaigning for Michael Whatley, the Republican Senate candidate in North Carolina.

“I'm not anti-endorsing him. I'm not pro-endorsing him. I'm not getting involved in Israeli elections.”

Vance said he backs American candidates and is concentrating on the midterm elections in the United States, which take place on 3 November. Berliner Zeitung describes him as a possible successor to the president within the MAGA movement, and Al Jazeera calls him a likely 2028 presidential contender. Trump's own position on the vote stood in sharp contrast to his vice president's.

Trump's full backing

On Sunday, 18 October, Donald Trump publicly stood behind Netanyahu in a post on his Truth Social platform, calling him "a Great Warrior". Trump described his endorsement as complete and unconditional and linked it to the war against Iran. He warned that if Israelis elected a different prime minister, the United States might have to continue the fight against Iran alone, which he said he was not prepared to do. In an Axios interview, Trump said he had announced his support shortly before the vote on purpose, and when asked whether he could work with another Israeli leader, he gave a noncommittal answer. Trump also said he expected Netanyahu to win by an overwhelming margin, in a phone call the prime minister's office posted on social media. Netanyahu thanked Trump immediately for the support.

On Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met Netanyahu in Israel, according to a spokesman for the prime minister's office, Doron Spielman. Spielman told The Washington Post that part of the discussion focused on Trump's endorsement, while the Pentagon declined to comment. Netanyahu's political opponents stressed that only Israeli voters will decide the next government.

Vance's record and party divisions

Vance has campaigned for foreign leaders before. In April he travelled to Hungary to back Viktor Orbán, who lost the election to Peter Magyar after 16 years in power. In 2025 he met Alice Weidel, leader of Germany's AfD, and criticised the cordon sanitaire that traditional parties maintain around the far-right party. In June, amid Israeli opposition to an Iran ceasefire plan, Vance told Israel directly:

“You can't just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have.”

Vance has faced scepticism from Jewish Republicans about his commitment to the alliance with Israel, and some Jewish commentators have criticised his remarks on Israeli officials and his association with podcast host Tucker Carlson. Republicans have tried to portray Democrats, including Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, as hostile to Jews and Israel, according to an AP analysis, while the party itself remains divided. Concerns about antisemitism have grown across the political spectrum ahead of the midterms.

What comes next

Israel votes on 27 October, and the US midterms follow on 3 November. Al Jazeera reports that it remains unclear whether Trump's endorsement will help Netanyahu's Likud party, since some opinion polls show wariness of the US president. The timeline below marks the key dates so far and the votes ahead.