DOMINANT ANGLE
Canberra sees Trump's support for Netanyahu as a tactical shift: Washington is linking the continuation of the war against Iran to the choice of Israeli voters, after months of cooled relations.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Trump wrote that if Israel has "the wrong leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi", America will have to "do the job itself" against Iran, which he is "not inclined" to do (ABC, The Age).
- 02
The war against Iran was launched on 28 February and negotiations to end it have been at a standstill for months, according to the ABC.
- 03
The Likud released a video where Netanyahu claims to have "crushed Iran" with Trump, less than two weeks before the first Israeli vote since 7 October 2023 (SBS).
ANALYSIS
Sydney, October 19, 2026. The Australian press is treating Donald Trump's support for Benjamin Netanyahu as a spectacular about-face. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age are calling it a "late" and "stunning" intervention in the Israeli legislative elections on October 27. The message, posted on Truth Social and dated, according to these newspapers, to the early hours of Monday Australian time, offers "complete and total" support to the man Trump calls a "Great Warrior Prime Minister" and "Partner for Peace" in the face of Iran.
The ABC is emphasizing the contrast. The American president had, a few months ago, launched a diatribe against Netanyahu, whom he had called "crazy", and had just suggested that he did not trust him. The channel recalls that the war launched against Iran on February 28 is at a stalemate: negotiations have been at a standstill for months, despite Trump's repeated claims that Tehran is defeated.
The most quoted phrase is the warning: if Israel has "the wrong leader, that is, anyone other than Bibi", America will have to "do the job itself", which Trump says he is "not inclined" to do. Australian media are reading a direct link between American engagement with Iran and the outcome of the vote.
The Age and the Herald, in an article by their correspondent in Tel Aviv, note that Netanyahu had ardently sought this endorsement, while his rivals had prayed that Trump would not interfere in the campaign. They recall that the two men had not met during the UN General Assembly last month, and that Trump remains popular in Israel.
SBS is highlighting the immediate use the Prime Minister's camp is making of it: a Likud video in which Netanyahu claims that together, they have "crushed Iran" and that re-election would allow them to "eliminate the Iranian threat within two years, or even sooner". The ABC quotes his reaction: "A friend of Israel wants Netanyahu to win." SBS recalls that the election is the first since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, for which the opposition holds Netanyahu personally responsible, and that the polls have him in a tight race.
