When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago this week, the meeting will be more than just a diplomatic reunion.
For Netanyahu, this is a prelude to his re-election bid in 2026, in which the US president will play a starring role.
Israel is officially scheduled to hold elections in October 2026, but that schedule could collapse sooner. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government faces two immediate threats: the ultra-Orthodox conscription crisis and the March 2026 budget deadline. Both could trigger early elections.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s sixth government, which spans 18 years and includes several prime ministers, has overcome extraordinary turmoil that has left Israel diplomatically isolated and bitterly divided, from the 2023 judicial reforms that sent hundreds of thousands of people to the streets, to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that killed more than 1,200 Israelis, and the violent war that followed.
Still, Prime Minister Netanyahu persevered. His coalition government has lasted longer than any Israeli government in the past six years, giving him time to restore Israel’s regional deterrence while avoiding substantial scrutiny of his decisions ahead of the unprecedented security expiry on October 7, 2023.
Opinion polls conducted since October 2023 show his coalition falling short of the 61-seat Knesset majority needed to govern, hovering between 49 and 54 seats. His re-election strategy appears to hinge on simple math. We hope that Mr. Trump will help us escape as much as possible from the failure of October 7 and rewrite that narrative with our votes.
“The U.S. president will be a central figure, if not the leader, in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s re-election strategy,” said Nadav Strauchler, a political strategist who previously worked for the prime minister.
There is precedent for this alliance. During Israel’s turbulent 2019-2020 election period, Likud posted signs on Israeli streets showing President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shaking hands and reading “Netanyahu is in a different league.” President Trump took symbolic actions at key junctures during his campaign, including recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 2019, announcing an initial Palestinian peace plan in 2020, and spearheading the Abraham Accords.
Most recently, President Trump defended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign for amnesty and publicly appealed to Israeli President Isaac Herzog in his October Knesset speech celebrating the Gaza ceasefire. “Hey, I have an idea: Mr. President, why don’t you pardon him?” Trump asked, dismissing Netanyahu’s corruption charges as a “cigars and champagne” trivial matter.
The episode sparked a Likud-aligned campaign and eventually led to Netanyahu’s own formal request for amnesty. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited Trump’s defense in a video accompanying the filing, arguing that it allows “both leaders to advance vital interests in a fleeting opportunity.”
Strauchler identified the Knesset speech as “the de facto start of a campaign led by the world’s greatest campaigner, Donald Trump.”
“Trump will probably appear again on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s campaign posters, as he has in the past,” Strauchler said. “His presence will have an impact on the whole campaign. But it’s about quality, not quantity.”
And in fact, according to Likud officials familiar with the plan, Prime Minister Netanyahu was already considering hosting President Trump in Israel during the campaign, his second visit since returning to the White House.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office declined CNN’s request for comment.
The reason can be explained with numbers. According to a September 2025 Gallup poll on Israeli life, the approval rating for American leadership among Israelis was 76%, compared to 40% for Israeli government leadership. The Gaza ceasefire agreement, which was attributed to President Trump’s mediation and determination, only strengthened the US president’s Israel brand.
Israeli insiders say Prime Minister Netanyahu’s pitch focuses on the diplomatic spectacle of expanding the Abraham Accords, normalizing with Saudi Arabia, and reshaping the Middle East. All of this is in symbiosis with President Trump’s desire for the Nobel Peace Prize, which Jerusalem is actively promoting. Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, a Netanyahu supporter, recently teamed up with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson to launch a global parliamentary initiative urging world leaders to support President Trump’s nomination for the 2026 presidential award.
“The most important thing for Prime Minister Netanyahu is his legacy,” Strauchler said. “His message will be that he has accomplished a lot, but his mission is not over, the Iranian threat still exists and there is still a peace deal.”
But President Trump’s vision of historic peace in the Middle East remains unfulfilled and still faces major obstacles. The Gaza ceasefire is fragile and President Trump is pushing Israel to accelerate a second phase, but no international force has yet emerged to govern Gaza and the prospect of disarming Hamas seems remote. Arab countries that were expected to be in a hurry to sign the Abraham Accords remain hesitant, and normalization of diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia remains a long way off.
Fissures also exist in theaters in other regions. Regarding Syria, President Trump’s support for the Al-Shara regime stands in contrast to Israel’s determination to maintain a buffer zone. While Washington is pushing for diplomacy regarding Lebanon, Jerusalem has doubts about Beirut’s ability to rein in Hezbollah without a new military operation.
Iran remains a critical flashpoint, with Israel closely monitoring Iran’s nuclear enrichment and growing concerns about ballistic missile activity. Although both leaders touted the brief “12-day war” as a victory, Tehran’s nuclear and missile ambitions have done little to diminish. Israeli officials suspect that President Trump will rush to authorize a major Israeli military operation against Iran, especially in the aftermath of Israel’s controversial attack on Hamas leadership in Doha in September.
“Israel has no better friend in its history than President Trump,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement.
“We will continue to work closely with our ally Israel to successfully implement the President’s 20-Point Plan for Peace and strengthen security in the region,” Kerry said. “As the president has repeatedly stated in his first and second terms, he is committed to ensuring that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon.”
The most political arena remains Gaza, where President Trump is seeking the next steps to move forward, while Prime Minister Netanyahu faces constraints from a right-wing coalition resisting further withdrawal. Israeli sources have suggested that Netanyahu may seek approval for another military operation in Gaza before agreeing to push for a ceasefire. This is a final show of force to satisfy the partner before making further concessions.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu is not operating in isolation,” a former Israeli official points out. “Jared Kushner and other key figures in Trump’s inner circle, as well as his Gulf allies and friends in Turkey and Qatar, are frustrated by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s delays in planning a ceasefire in Gaza and are wary of any maneuvers that could undermine stability in the broader region.”
Netanyahu’s approach is likely to include assembling a comprehensive coordination package, these sources said. These include developments in Gaza tied to security for Iran and Lebanon, adjustments to the domestic political schedule, and potential support for the prime minister’s amnesty campaign.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu is always trying to coordinate,” said a senior Israeli official. “He is trading moves on one front for compensation on another. Perhaps a second step will need to be passed to Trump. So the key question is what he gets in return, such as US support for another attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities or support for military operations in Lebanon.”
Even if he doesn’t make a historic breakthrough, Trump offers something equally valuable: attention. Every presidential tweet, visit, and statement will dominate the headlines, steal the spotlight from Netanyahu’s opponents and give Israelis something to discuss other than the October 7 debacle.
“I believe that the partnership between our two countries is very strong and is based on understanding and common views,” Strauchler said. “There may be differences and conflicts, but they are on the same page and capable of resolving them. So far, they have been coordinating much more. Prime Minister Netanyahu delayed many moves until President Trump won the election, and he expects to receive the same support in return.”
In past elections, Prime Minister Netanyahu was able to avoid defeat due to President Trump’s intervention, but was unable to achieve a decisive victory. From 2019 to 2021, he was unable to form a stable coalition government, ultimately leading to five elections in four years.
Trump remains perhaps the most powerful card in Netanyahu’s political deck, but as history shows, that alone may not be enough to give him a run for his money.
CNN’s Donald Judd contributed to this report.
