President Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands in the Oval Office of the White House, March 25, 2019. Image by Michael Reynolds – Pool/Getty Images

By Aiden Pink July 17, 2019

Election posters promoting Israel’s conservative Likud Party were spotted in Tel Aviv with an unusual English-language slogan: “Make Israel Great Again.”

The posters echoed President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan. Likud party leader Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is one of Trump’s closest global allies.

#MakeIsraelGreatAgain Likud election posters in Tel Aviv (photo courtesy of @AviWoolf) pic.twitter.com/cKEK3mbSsf

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) July 15, 2019

“This is not part of the formal campaign,” A Likud official told Jerusalem Post reporter Lahav Harkov.

Official or not, it wouldn’t be the first time Likud and Trump have been linked in election materials. A giant Likud campaign poster of Netanyahu and Trump shaking hands was posted in Tel Aviv in February along with the caption, “Netanyahu is in a different league,” the Times of Israel reported. And a “Make America Great Again” flag was waved at Likud’s election night party in April.

After Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition, new elections were called for this September.

Trump is popular in Israel due to his recognition of Jerusalem as the country’s capital and his recognition of its sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Several locations in Israel, including a new town in the Golan and a Jerusalem train station, have been named in his honor.

Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor of the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aidenpink

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount