Israel‘s government celebrated Donald Trump’s victory on Wednesday morning as if it had just won the US election itself.
“Dear Donald and Melania Trump, Congratulations on the greatest comeback in history!” wrote Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on social media shortly after his victory speech. Trump.
“Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a strong recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory!” enthused the Israeli leader, signing: “In true friendship, yours, Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu.”
In fact, a poster depicting a photo of US President-elect Donald Trump and reading “Congratulations! Trump, make Israel great” was posted a day after the US election, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Wednesday.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, posted a celebratory “NAIII” on social media, along with an Israeli and American flag, before the final polls in Alaska even closed.
The vast majority of Jewish Israelis see Mr. Trump as a better choice for Israel’s interests than Vice President Kamala Harris. They assume he will be softer on Israel than the Biden administration, which has broadly supported Israel’s war effort in Gaza over the past year but has also criticized its humanitarian aspects, including the high civilian death toll.
Mr Netanyahu has been buoyed by the prospect of a more approachable US president as he continues to insist on absolute victory in Israel’s wars.
Indeed, Netanyahu on Tuesday fired his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallad, a key figure in the Biden administration, amid differences over ending the war in Gaza and pressing domestic issues that threatened the stability of Netanyahu’s governing coalition.
Trump, like the Biden administration, has called on Israel to end the wars in Gaza and Lebanon sparked by the Hamas-led offensive against Israel 13 months ago, but analysts say a Trump administration is likely to support their termination on terms more favorable to Israel.
That sentiment is largely based on Mr. Trump’s first term, when he made political gifts to Mr. Netanyahu’s previous administration, including moving the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
But analysts also note that the policies of the next Trump administration are unknown and that Mr. Trump is known to be unpredictable.
“I think Netanyahu prefers the unpredictability of Trump to Harris,” said Kobi Michael, a fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, a conservative think tank based in Jerusalem. “But there’s a degree of wishful thinking,” he said, “because Trump can easily turn on us in seconds.”
Mr. Trump’s relationship with Mr. Netanyahu has become more complicated. Last year, Mr Trump publicly accused the Israeli prime minister of letting the United States down by pulling out at the last minute of an operation to kill General Qasem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s Quds Force, in 2020.
Still, analysts said, there is likely to be a natural affinity between a second Trump administration and Mr. Netanyahu’s current governing coalition, the most right-wing and religiously conservative in Israel’s history.
Trump’s victory may also boost Mr Netanyahu at home in a period of political turmoil since Mr Gallad’s ouster.
“A Trump victory strengthens Netanyahu politically at home because there is a sense that he is on our side,” said Mazal Mualem, an Israeli political commentator for Al-Monitor, a Middle East news website.
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