Netanyahu fights for re-election without key ally Trump Issued on: 17/03/2021 - 16:44 A file photo from January 28, 2020 shows then US president Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the day they announced Trump's Middle East peace plan in the White House MANDEL NGAN AFP/File 4 min Tel Aviv (AFP) As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a re-election battle next week, he's missing an ally he could rely on during three previous votes over the past two years: Donald Trump. The American former president's conservative base was avidly pro-Israel and Trump fulfilled a wishlist for the hawkish Netanyahu. Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital, blessed settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and doled out US incentives for Arab nations to normalise ties with the Jewish state.