Netanyahu bets big on Trump despite risky US-Israel friendship signs

In upcoming Nov election‚ Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are running close but Israeli support isnt split: a recent poll shows 66% of Israelis want Trump back in office while only 17% support Harris

The bond between Benjamin Netanyahu and Republicans has deep roots - back in 2012 he clearly backed Mitt Romney over incumbent president Obama (giving Romney special treatment during his mid-summer visit that year)

After a rough patch when Trump was mad at Netanyahu for congratulating Biden about 4 years ago they fixed things up: last summer Netanyahu went to Mar-a-Lago and since then theyʼve had several phone-calls. Both seem to find this friendship useful for their political goals

• Trump moved US embassy to Jerusalem
• Recognized Israeli control of Golan Heights
• Cancelled Iran nuclear deal
• Made Abraham Accords happen

But Trumps actual record is mixed-up: he only visited Israel once during his term while Biden came twice including right after Oct 7 attack. Trump also made weird statements like wanting to be “neutral“ in Israeli-Palestinian issues

The current war made Israel more dependent on US than ever since 70s: US spent over $22.7-billion on direct military help and related stuff. They sent carriers fighter-jets and even a fancy THAAD defense system with 100 people to run it

Trumps world-view might not work well with what Israel needs: he dont like allies who need lots of help and hates working with other countries. His team focuses more on China than Middle-East problems. Even if he wins next week theres no guarantee hell keep supporting Israel like Biden did