Trump credits endorsement after Netanyahu bloc’s 57-seat tally

President Trump said his endorsement helped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Tuesday’s Knesset election, according to a news report by The Independent on Wednesday, while Atlas360’s 57-seat tally left Netanyahu’s bloc short.

The Oct. 28 tally matters because a Knesset majority requires 61 seats, leaving the Likud-led camp four seats short and making coalition talks central to Netanyahu’s path to another government.

Trump shared a Truth Social post on Wednesday quoting Irving C. Schwartz, who said: “When President Trump endorsed Bibi Netanyahu, the whole tide turned, and now, rather than a decisive defeat for a Great Prime Minister, it looks like a big come-from-behind stalemate, or even a WIN for Netanyahu.”

The post added: “It all took place AFTER the Endorsement by President Trump, who only wants what is good for the Middle East, Israel, and the United States of America!” The report did not establish that Trump’s endorsement changed voting behaviour.

Trump also said on Tuesday, while returning from a rally in Texas, that Netanyahu had done well. “I hear he did very well. It's pretty close, very good,” Trump said.

“When the endorsement came out, it helped him a lot.”

Netanyahu used Trump’s support in his own campaign message on Sunday, according to Reuters reporting cited by The Independent. “US President Donald Trump has come with a friendship that has never existed before between an Israeli prime minister ‌and an American president,” Netanyahu said. “And it is doubtful we will ever have such a friendly president again.”

The election is Israel’s first national vote since the Oct. 7 attacks. Gadi Eisenkot, a former Israeli army chief who leads the Yashar party, has called for Netanyahu to be removed as prime minister, The Independent reported.

Exit polls cited by the report suggested neither Netanyahu’s grouping nor Eisenkot’s would secure enough seats for a Knesset majority. Atlas360 reported on Oct. 28 that the Likud-led bloc was ahead on 57 seats, while still below the threshold needed to govern without additional support.

The Independent described Trump and Netanyahu as closely aligned during Trump’s second term. It also reported that the U.S. and Israel had both launched strikes on Iran.

The report placed Trump’s comments in the context of approaching U.S. midterm elections, where it said he has campaigned for Republican candidates. It said Democratic candidates had seized on voter disapproval of the war in Iran and frustration over the cost of living.

What is unresolved is the final seat distribution and the coalition arithmetic that follows. The reported 57-seat tally keeps Netanyahu short of a majority even as Trump presents the result as evidence of his endorsement’s value.

Source: news report, The Independent, Oct. 28, 2026; Atlas360 reporting, Oct. 28, 2026