JERUSALEM — President Donald Trump's advisers believe a loss by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tuesday's election could actually make it easier to advance the president's Middle East agenda, US officials told Axios in a report published on Saturday. Should Netanyahu — prime minister for roughly 19 years across three stints — be ousted, his potential successors would have strong incentives to maintain close ties with Washington, the officials said.
Source: Axios via Network Today, Oct 24, 2026
The assessment comes despite Trump's decision last Sunday to endorse Netanyahu, calling him a "Great Warrior Prime Minister, and an even greater Partner for Peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran" — a reference, Axios noted, to the joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran and Israel's fight against Hezbollah. The Jerusalem Post, in its own report on Saturday, said that endorsement came despite opposition from some of Trump's closest advisers, who have grown frustrated with the Israeli prime minister.
Source: Jerusalem Post via Jewish Rhody, Oct 24, 2026
Several of Trump's top advisers have grown "dissatisfied" with Netanyahu over key regional priorities over the last six months, Axios reported. US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack has expressed doubts about Israel's military operations in Syria, while Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff have been frustrated by what they see as Netanyahu's reluctance to advance Trump's peace plan, according to the report. "He's the devil he knows," one Trump adviser said of Netanyahu, who was also in office throughout Trump's first term.
Source: Axios via Network Today, Oct 24, 2026
What is solid
- Axios reported on Saturday, citing US officials, that Trump's advisers see opportunity for the US Middle East agenda in a post-Netanyahu government, whose leaders would have strong incentives to keep close ties with Washington.
- Trump endorsed Netanyahu last Sunday; the Jerusalem Post reported the endorsement came despite opposition from some of his closest advisers.
- Final polls published Friday show neither Netanyahu's bloc nor the opposition change bloc reaching the 61 seats needed for a Knesset majority, ANI reported citing the Times of Israel.
What is only claimed
- How deep the adviser frustration runs is reported, not publicly confirmed: the accounts rest on unnamed US officials and advisers speaking to Axios and the Jerusalem Post. Neither the White House nor Netanyahu's office has publicly confirmed the dissatisfaction described.
The election arithmetic explains the Washington calculation. ANI, citing the Times of Israel, reported that the final polls aired by Israeli television on Friday forecast Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party as the largest faction in two of three surveys, ahead of Netanyahu's Likud, with a Channel 13 poll putting the change bloc at 54 seats against 50 for parties loyal to Netanyahu and 16 for predominantly Arab parties — short of 61 for both camps. Axios also noted that Vice President JD Vance notably did not endorse Netanyahu in a Monday interview, and that after the elections Trump will face a defining choice about whether to join Netanyahu in another military operation against Iran.