US President Donald Trump has posted a second public endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Truth Social, urging Israelis to vote for him ahead of Tuesday's parliamentary election, with final polls showing neither side on course for an outright majority.

What Trump said

Trump called Netanyahu an outstanding warrior prime minister and said Israelis should vote for him to finish the job that they started. A US source described Netanyahu's reported lobbying for Trump's support as a sign of desperation, according to the reporting of the endorsement.

The endorsement lands a day before Israelis elect all 120 members of the Knesset. A prime minister needs 61 seats to form a government, and no party has ever won that majority alone under Israel's proportional system, where parties must pass a 3.25% threshold to enter parliament.

What the polls say

The latest Channel 12 poll puts Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party first with 23 seats, ahead of Netanyahu's Likud on 21, though other pollsters differ: on the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14, Likud is projected at 30 seats and Eisenkot at about 20. Most polls put Netanyahu's bloc at 49 to 55 seats, short of 61, while the opposition is deeply fragmented, with former prime minister Naftali Bennett and former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman both holding their own leadership ambitions.

That arithmetic means election night is unlikely to settle the contest: the real fight will be the coalition negotiations that follow, which can take weeks or months.

Sources: InShorts, Trump issues second endorsement for Netanyahu before Israel vote, 26 October 2026; CNN, Israel is holding its most important election in years, 25 October 2026; NewKerala / ANI, battle-lines drawn ahead of Tuesday's vote.