For years, Benjamin Netanyahu’s closeness to Donald Trump was one of his most reliable political assets — a symbol of access, influence, and the ability to shape American policy toward Israel.

Likud once expected to make that relationship a centerpiece of its next campaign.

That campaign has now been quietly shelved.

According to reports, Likud pulled back from a planned push highlighting Netanyahu’s ties to Trump after concluding it would not help the prime minister’s electoral prospects. The decision came as Trump finalized a U.S.–Iran agreement that many Israelis view with deep unease. In a matter of weeks, what had been a boast became a complication.

Gil Samsonov, Ph.D., one of Israel’s leading advertising executives and a former Likud campaign manager, framed the shift this way: “Campaigns are ultimately exercises in association. For years, the association was simple: Netanyahu and Trump meant strength, influence, and access to Washington. The moment a campaign decides not to highlight that relationship, it is acknowledging that voters are processing new information. Whether that change is temporary or permanent is the real political question.”

That question may help define the next Israeli election: Can Netanyahu restore the political value of his Trump relationship before voters go to the polls?

From asset to complication

Netanyahu’s reelection argument rests on two familiar pillars: that only he can protect Israel, and that his relationship with Trump gives him unique leverage in Washington. Both are now under pressure.

A KAN News poll found Yashar — the centrist party led by former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot — rising to 21 Knesset seats, while Likud fell to 23 and the Bennett-Lapid Beyachad party dropped to 17. The coalition bloc now stands at 52 seats, while the opposition reaches 57.

The poll’s most striking finding concerns the U.S.–Iran agreement itself: 55% of Israelis oppose it, compared with only 18% who support it.........

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