Defying election czar, Netanyahu talked election integrity with police chief – reports

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied reports circulating in Israeli media that he intended to fire military chief Eyal Zamir. In a post on X, Netanyahu dismissed the reports as fake news from channels 12 and 13 and stated he has no intention of firing the Chief of Staff. He noted that he intends to work together with Zamir for Israel's security and expressed a goal to permanently remove the Iranian nuclear threat alongside President Trump.

During a trip to Mississippi, President Donald Trump denied discussing an additional endorsement for Netanyahu ahead of the Israeli elections. While Trump stated he had already issued both endorsements and had not spoken about a new one, the Jerusalem Post noted this contradicts accounts from US officials. These officials claimed Netanyahu had made intensive efforts to persuade the president to issue another public statement of support.

Additionally, Axios reported that Netanyahu spoke with Trump twice within three days to request reinforced support and even suggested specific wording for the endorsements. The Likud party has denied that Netanyahu requested the endorsement.

In a separate meeting with National Security Minister Ben Gvir and Daniel Levy, the Prime Minister reportedly raised concerns that "left-wing anarchists" might taint the vote on Tuesday, according to The Times of Israel.

Brief written by urgent.news from Middle East Eye, Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.