US President Donald Trump refused to endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for another term in office ahead of the next election, avoiding direct support for his longtime ally in an interview published on Thursday.
"Well, I can only say that I'm not involved in politics anymore, except that we're popular," Trump told TIME magazine when asked if the prime minister should be given another term in the Oct. 27 election.
Asked again, he replied: “No, my main thing, I want to help them defend Israel,” moving away from an obvious support in the interview conducted on Monday.
Trump instead pointed to his personal standing among the Israeli public, claiming that his popularity reaches "about 99%" due to past policies.
Asked whether Washington could cooperate more effectively with opposition candidate and former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, Trump said he had "not heard bad things about him," but warned against firing Netanyahu.
"People have underestimated Bibi, Netanyahu, many, many times, just like they have underestimated me many, many times. I would not underestimate Bibi," Trump said.
Trump's relationship with Netanyahu has reportedly become more strained in recent months due to the war in Iran and Israel's continued attacks on Lebanon and Gaza.
