US President Donald Trump reportedly referred to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “his own worst enemy” recently, according to sources close to the president, in a blow to Netanyahu’s hopes that the White House will endorse him ahead of his October 27 reelection bid.

Far from an endorsement, however, the remark reported by Axios on Friday appeared to be the latest crack in the relationship between the two strongmen, despite their insistence that they are good friends, and Netanyahu’s visit to Washington last month.

During that visit, Axios reported that Tump questioned Netanyahu about his election prospects, asking how he was faring in opinion polls.

Netanyahu hesitated, an official familiar with the matter told the news outlet, before one of his aides answered for him, saying: “Mr. President, he is winning.”

Most polls, including those conducted by The Times of Israel’s sister site Zman Yisrael, have Netanyahu’s Likud neck-and-neck with or slightly trailing behind his main challenger, Yashar chair Gadi Eisenkot.

But they also show his Netanyahu’s coalition bloc falling to around 50 seats in the election, with Eisenkot appearing better positioned to form a government.

Delving into why Trump hasn’t endorsed Netanyahu ahead of the upcoming election, Axios confirmed that the Israeli premier’s poor performance in the polls is, in part, what has led the president to so far refrain from doing so.

Citing two senior officials, the outlet said that although the US president likes the Israeli prime minister personally,........

© The Times of Israel