The president shifted his hands as the Israeli leader spoke.
While a handful of populist and right-wing world leaders have endorsed Trump for reelection — the most recent of whom was the prime minister of Slovenia, the birthplace of the first lady, on Friday — Netanyahu has notably refrained from doing so.
The populist Israeli leader, the country’s longest serving prime minister, is himself facing a struggle for political survival amid an ongoing election impasse, corruption trial and now the coronavirus.
In recent Israeli elections — there have been three since April 2019 — Netanyahu’s campaign displayed posters of Trump and the prime minister shaking hands beside the slogan, “Another league.".
The right-wing Israeli leader has benefited from policy changes pushed through by the Trump administration in Israel’s favor and against the Palestinians.