Donald Trump said his public backing helped Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s election, while partial counts still leave no bloc with a clear majority in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel’s parliament. The U.S. administration has not decided whether it will intervene in coalition negotiations.

Trump says his endorsement shifted the race

Speaking to Axios on Wednesday, Trump said he had heard that his endorsement made a big difference for Netanyahu. He also left open the possibility of helping with efforts to build a unity government, without saying that he had committed to intervening.

Before the vote, Trump had urged Israelis to support Netanyahu and later said on Truth Social that his backing had changed the outlook from a likely defeat for the prime minister to a tighter contest. The comments came as vote counting continued in Israel.

Partial results still fall short of a majority

According to partial figures published by Israel’s Central Elections Committee at 11:35 pm local time, Netanyahu’s bloc held 53 seats and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot, the Yashar party chairman, held 48. The tally was based on 90% of votes counted across 97.5% of ballot boxes, but it still left both sides below the 61 seats needed to govern alone.

Al-Mashhad reported a slightly different early count, putting Netanyahu’s bloc on 54 seats and the opposition on 49. The reports gave different preliminary seat totals as counting continued.

Washington is still weighing its role

A U.S. official told The Times of Israel that the White House has not yet decided whether it will intervene in coalition negotiations. The official also rejected reports that Washington had settled on a preferred coalition formula, calling such suggestions premature while counting was still under way.

That uncertainty matters because neither bloc currently has the 61 seats needed for a Knesset majority. President Isaac Herzog is due to begin formal consultations next week on whom to task with forming the next government, while late-counted double-envelope ballots, including those cast by active-duty soldiers, are still to be processed.