Benjamin Netanyahu faces Gadi Eisenkot in tight Israeli election as Donald Trump intervenes

Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, held his final campaign rally on Sunday promising to heal domestic rifts, hours after US President Donald Trump intervened in the race with a direct endorsement of the incumbent leader.

Israel votes on Tuesday in an election where final public opinion surveys showed Mr Netanyahu and Mr Eisenkot running neck and neck before a mandatory polling blackout took effect three days prior to the ballot.

Addressing an audience of several hundred people on Sunday, Mr Eisenkot framed his candidacy around reconciliation following years of domestic political polarisation. "Our goal is not for one side to defeat the other. That is not our way," he said, pledging a government focused on security and economic stability while appealing directly to undecided supporters of Mr Netanyahu's Likud party to back political change.

Contrasting visions for leadership

Mr Eisenkot, a relative political newcomer who retired from the military before entering elected office, has targeted Mr Netanyahu's record directly. He has committed to establishing a formal state commission of inquiry into the military and intelligence lapses surrounding the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023. Mr Netanyahu, who has spent three decades at the centre of Israeli politics, remains on trial over corruption allegations, which he denies.

Donald Trump weighs in on Iran

Mr Trump inserted himself directly into the closing hours of the race on Sunday, publishing an appeal on his Truth Social platform urging Israelis to re-elect the prime minister. Calling Mr Netanyahu an "outstanding Warrior Prime Minister", Mr Trump pointed to joint military actions against Iran as evidence that the two administrations were finishing a shared mission.

Mr Netanyahu made immediate use of the intervention. Appearing on Channel 14 shortly after Mr Eisenkot's rally, the prime minister argued that his opponent lacked the resolve to confront Tehran.

"They will not destroy Iran's nuclear programme," Mr Netanyahu told the studio audience, asserting that his government had completed nine-tenths of the necessary work to neutralise the threat and insisting only he could finish it. On the same day, Mr Netanyahu distributed an artificial intelligence-generated image depicting a nuclear blast over Tel Aviv, arguing that confronting Iran outweighed every other domestic political dispute.

Opposition attacks crisis rhetoric

Mr Eisenkot rejected the prime minister's attacks, posting on X that Mr Netanyahu was exploiting regional threats to salvage his political standing after failing to meet his own stated military goals.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, who has agreed to enter a governing coalition alongside Mr Eisenkot if the numbers allow, also denounced the prime minister's messaging. Pointing to Mr Netanyahu's social media posts and recent warnings over economic pressures, Mr Lapid said the incumbent had lost his composure and urged voters to remove him from office on Tuesday.