Trump says Israeli PM Netanyahu’s corruption trial should be cancelled
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US President Donald Trump described the case against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) as a “witch hunt”.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on June 25 called for Israel to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or cancel his trial on corruption charges,
Mr Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 in Israel on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust – all of which Mr Netanyahu denies.
The trial began in 2020 and involves three criminal cases. He has pleaded not guilty.
“Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State (of Israel),” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that he had learnt that Mr Netanyahu was due to appear in court on June 30.
Mr Netanyahu asked a court on June 26 to postpone his testimony.
In a filing to the tribunal, his lawyer Amit Hadad said the Israeli Prime Minister’s testimony should be delayed in the light of “regional and global developments”.
“The court is respectfully requested to order the cancellation of the hearings in which the Prime Minister was scheduled to testify in the coming two weeks,” the filing said.
It said Mr Netanyahu was “compelled to devote all his time and energy to managing national, diplomatic and security issues of the utmost importance” following a brief conflict with Iran and during ongoing fighting in Gaza where Israeli hostages are held.
Israeli media reported that cross-examination of Mr Netanyahu began on June 3 in a Tel Aviv court and was expected to take about a year to complete.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has the power to pardon Mr Netanyahu but has been quoted by Israeli media as saying that a pardon is “not currently on the table”.
He also said that “no such request had been made”, according to the reports.
Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid said Mr Trump should keep out of the matter.
“With all due respect and gratitude to the President of the United States, he’s not supposed to intervene in a legal process of an independent state,” Mr Lapid said.
“I hope and suppose that this is a reward he (Trump) is giving him (Netanyahu) because he is planning to pressure him on Gaza and force him into a hostage deal that will end the war,” Mr Lapid told Israeli news website Ynet.
Mr Trump extolled Mr Netanyahu as a “warrior” but also said in his post: “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.”
That appeared to be a reference to US involvement and support for Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear programme
The Republican President described the case against the Israeli leader as a “witch hunt”, a term Mr Trump has frequently applied to US attempts to prosecute him and the same term Mr Netanyahu has used to describe his own long-running trial.
The warm words contrasted with the rare rebuke he issued on June 24 over Israel’s post-ceasefire strikes on Iran.
“Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I’ve never seen before. The biggest load that we’ve seen. I’m not happy with Israel,” he told reporters.
Iran and Israel, he added, had been fighting “so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing.” REUTERS/ AFP
