JERUSALEM: Hours before Israelis vote, Benjamin Netanyahu is making an argument that sits awkwardly beside his most valuable campaign prop.

“The strongest reason to re-elect him is his ability to resist American pressure, whoever occupies the White House,” the Israeli prime minister told The Jerusalem Post.

Netanyahu spoke to the Post’s Zvika Klein and Amichai Stein in the early hours of October 21.

Trump’s endorsement surprised me, though his motive did not, he added.

The Post noted that Vice President JD Vance declined to offer an endorsement of his own while making clear he does not oppose the prime minister.

Netanyahu rejected the idea of a merely less friendly administration and asked what happens after Trump.

His answer was the same in both cases: a leader who knows Washington and will not fold.

“You’re not going to withstand the pressure by succumbing to it,” he told the Post.

Netanyahu’s example was Palestinian statehood, which he described as an Iranian terror base overlooking Israeli cities.

The prime minister spent more time explaining how he would withstand American pressure than how he would broaden American support, the Post noted.

The claim about Arab ties

Netanyahu also argued that Arab governments want closer relations with Israel after watching it confront Iran.

He told the Post that more than two countries were interested, but he did not name them.

“Arab leaders privately dismiss the Palestinian issue and tell him they must speak about it publicly without meaning it,” the prime minister said.

Saudi Arabia and other Arab governments reaffirmed support for Palestinian statehood in a joint statement on October 16.

In September 2025, the UAE had warned the Trump administration that Israeli annexation of West Bank land would damage the Abraham Accords, and Trump then said publicly he would not let Netanyahu annex it.

Netanyahu said he wants to rebuild his coalition with its present partners, and rival Gadi Eisenkot has ruled out sitting with him because of the corruption trial.

“If I win 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, I will set the principles, starting with no Palestinian state,” Netanyahu said.

The final television polls put Eisenkot’s bloc ahead by two to six seats, though neither side reaches 61, Haaretz reports.

Nobody can test how Netanyahu would handle a hostile administration until one arrives, and his campaign leans on a friendly one.

Trump’s endorsement shows Netanyahu can win Washington.

Israelis to vote on Tuesday for a presidential candidate.