President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked bipartisan fury on Sunday, including from a prominent individual who was once among his strongest backers.
“BIBI NETANYAHU WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” Trump wrote Sunday, with the right-wing, criminally indicted leader, who’s wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, facing a tough election next week.
Trump also warned that “if Israel has the wrong Leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so.”
Trump’s endorsement sparked backlash among conservatives, including prominent right-wing influencer Breck Worsham and pollster Rich Baris. It also angered Bishara Bahbah, a Palestinian-American academic and former chair of Arab Americans for Trump.
“For the president of the US to endorse Netanyahu, a wanted man in most countries of the world, is a major betrayal of the Arab and Muslim Americans who voted for the president in 2024,” Bahbah said in a statement published on social media. “I wonder how those Arab and Muslim Americans will return the favor on November 3rd and in the 2028 presidential election.”
Arab Americans for Trump campaigned aggressively for Trump in the 2024 election, particularly in Michigan. The group has since rebranded, however, following Trump’s proposal to take “ownership” of the Gaza Strip.
When asked on CNN earlier this year, Bahbah did not say he regretted voting for Trump, but did say that the Arab-American community was “up in arms” and “not happy” with the administration’s involvement with Israel’s war in Gaza.
“Can’t say he wasn’t warned by many of us,” wrote journalist and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, who is Muslim.
Responding to Hasan’s remarks, Bahbah argued that many Arab-Americans were left without a choice given the Biden administration’s near-unconditional support of Israel amid its siege on Gaza, which several human rights groups and a United Nations commission have labeled a genocide, a charge Israel rejects.
“Like most of the world, we could not get [former President Joe] Biden to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. So we turned to Trump,” Bahbah wrote. “Even though there is a one-sided ceasefire now, at least the mass killing has ended. Ask the people of Gaza if they supported what I have done in 2024 to save as many of their lives as I could.”
Like most of the world, we could not get Biden to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. So we turned to Trump. Even though there is a one-sided ceasefire now, at least the mass killing has ended. Ask the people of Gaza if they supported what I have done in 2024 to save as many of their lives as I could.
— Dr. Bishara A. Bahbah (@BahbahBishara) October 19, 2026