US President Donald Trump has called on the Israeli justice system to dismiss Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial.
In a post on the US president’s social media platform, Truth Social, Trump aired his frustration at finding out that the Israeli premier remains on trial, describing it as a “ridiculous Witch Hunt”.
Netanyahu is facing three separate corruption cases filed in 2019, which involve allegations of fraud, bribery and breach of trust.
“Bibi and I just went through HELL together, fighting a very tough and brilliant longtime enemy of Israel, Iran, and Bibi could not have been better, sharper, or stronger in his LOVE for the incredible Holy Land,” Trump wrote, referencing the 12-day exchange of attacks between Tehran and Tel Aviv.
“We were fighting, literally, for the Survival of Israel, and there is nobody in Israel’s History that fought harder or more competently than Bibi Netanyahu… He deserves much better than this, and so does the State of Israel.”
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on
Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Trump demanded that Netanyahu’s trial be “cancelled immediately” or he be pardoned due to the Israeli PM being “a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State.
“It was the United States of America that saved Israel, and now it is going to be the United States of America that saves Bibi Netanyahu. THIS TRAVESTY OF ‘JUSTICE’ CAN NOT BE ALLOWED!” he said.
Sensational witness testimonies
Israel’s longest-serving leader, Netanyahu is also the first sitting Israeli prime minister to be charged with a crime.
Before Israel’s war on Gaza began in the wake of the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, Netanyahu’s legal troubles bitterly divided Israelis and shook the country’s politics through five rounds of elections.
His far-right government’s bid in 2023 to curb the powers of the judiciary further polarised Israelis.
However, the attacks by Hamas in October 2023 and the ensuing war swept Netanyahu’s trial off the public agenda as the country united.
Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 in three cases involving gifts from millionaire friends and for allegedly seeking regulatory favours from media tycoons in return for favourable coverage.
The Israeli leader denies any wrongdoing.
Netanyahu is bombing Gaza again to save his political life
Read More »
Ongoing since May 2020, the trial has been described by Trump as a “horror show”.
It has featured more than 40 prosecution witnesses, including some of Netanyahu’s closest former confidants who turned against him.
Witness accounts have shed light not only on the three cases, but also revealed sensational details about Netanyahu’s character and his family’s reputation for living off the largesse of taxpayers and wealthy supporters.
Of the various allegations levelled at Netanyahu, the most eye-catching involve the receipt of nearly $200,000 worth of gifts from a billionaire Hollywood film producer.
Arnon Milchan, an Israeli businessman, film producer and former spy, took the stand in June 2023 to describe how he routinely delivered tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts requested by Netanyahu.
According to the court indictment, Milchan, whose production credits include hits such as Pretty Woman and 12 Years a Slave, gave Netanyahu and his wife boxes of cigars, jewellery and crates of champagne over a period of several years.
On the eve of his first testimony in early December 2024, Netanyahu described his investigation – similarly to Trump – as a witch hunt, saying that for “eight years I’ve been waiting for this day. Eight years I have waited to present the truth.”
