Trump Endorses Netanyahu for Israeli PM in Formal Letter

US President Donald Trump has issued a formal letter backing Benjamin Netanyahu for another term as Israel's prime minister in the upcoming election. Trump tied his endorsement directly to the confrontation with Iran.

"If Israel has the wrong leader, meaning anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this job itself, and I am not inclined to do that," Trump wrote.

In the letter, which was reported by Amit Segal, Trump hailed Netanyahu as "a great wartime Prime Minister" and cast him as America's partner against Iran.

The president also described Netanyahu as "strong, courageous, and brilliant," and noted that he has faced opposition, including from within Israel.

Trump ended the letter with a line about what Washington expects of its ally: "This is the kind of partner that the United States of America demands from Israel."

The endorsement arrives after Netanyahu's own appeal to right-wing voters. On Sunday, he posted on Facebook that the election is a binary choice. "It's either right - or Palestine," he wrote. He set his government against what he called a left-wing government of Eisenkot with the Arab parties, Yair Golan, Liberman and Bennett.

In the same post, Netanyahu pointed to the time remaining in Trump's term. i24NEWS quoted him: "We have two years left in my friend President Trump's term, and this is precisely the time to accomplish our main tasks on all fronts."

Israel Hayom reported on Sunday that Likud's internal polling shows the right-wing bloc ahead by a single Knesset seat, with the overall picture locked at a 60-60 tie.