WATCH VIDEO: 7-in-10 Israelis say Trump ‘friendliest US president to Israel ever’ – will his bear hug of Bibi move the needle?

WASHINGTON, DC — Israel’s first national elections in four years will take place next Tuesday, Oct. 27.

So far, most public polling suggests the results will be a complete deadlock.

Neither incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu nor his main rival – former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot – appear likely to be able to form a governing majority of at least 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats.

That’s why U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s full, late, and unexpected endorsement of Netanyahu’s re-election is such big news.

The critical question is this: Will Trump’s bear hug of Bibi – via the announcement on the president’s Truth Social platform – move the needle and put Netanyahu on a clear and convincing pathway to victory?

Without question, Trump is by far the most popular political figure in Israel.

Far more popular than Netanyahu or Eisenkot.

A new national survey finds that 69% of Israelis say “Trump is the friendliest U.S. president toward Israel ever.”

Fully 72% of Israeli Jews agree.

So do 59% of Israeli Arabs.

Of right-wing voters – the ones Bibi needs to electrify and get to the polls next week – 94% love Trump.

Of those on the center-right, 80% love the American president.

That said, there is a steadily shrinking number of those who are undecided in Israel.

In other words, Bibi and his team are thrilled to get Trump’s blessing.

But will it prove enough to move votes out of the Eisenkot camp and back into the Bibi camp?

There’s another critical question to which nobody knows the answer.

Regardless of who wins in Israel, what if Trump and the Republicans get hit with a “blue wave” on Nov. 3 and lose control of either the House of Representatives – or the Senate – or both?

What if a polity increasingly hostile to Israel and the Jewish people wins control of all or part of Congress?

What happens to the future of U.S.-Israel relations?

Stay tuned to ALL ISRAEL NEWS as we cover the elections in both countries from all angles.