US President Donald Trump has made an unprecedented move to interfere in Israel’s justice system by demanding an end to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial. The American president called the ongoing case against Netanyahu a “ridiculous Witch Hunt” and said it should be stopped immediately.
According to TruthSocial, Trump’s statement came just after the two leaders worked together on military action against Iranian nuclear facilities. The cross-examination of Netanyahu in his corruption trial was set to resume after being paused during the recent conflict with Iran.
“I was shocked to hear that the State of Israel, which has just had one of its Greatest Moments in History, and is strongly led by Bibi Netanyahu, is continuing its ridiculous Witch Hunt against their Great WarTime Prime Minister,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. He praised Netanyahu as a “WARRIOR” and said the trial should be cancelled or Netanyahu should be pardoned.
What the corruption cases are about
Netanyahu faces charges in three separate corruption cases that have been ongoing since 2020. The charges include fraud, breach of trust, and bribery related to his time as prime minister.
In the first case, prosecutors say Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, received expensive gifts worth about $175,000 from Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan. They also claim Netanyahu broke conflict-of-interest rules by helping Milchan with his US visa and tax problems. The second case involves allegations that Netanyahu tried to make a deal with a newspaper publisher for better coverage in exchange for weakening a rival newspaper.
The most serious case accuses Netanyahu of making regulatory decisions that helped telecommunications company Bezeq and its owner, Shaul Elovitch, make hundreds of millions of dollars. In return, prosecutors say Netanyahu got favorable coverage from the Walla news website that Elovitch owned. Netanyahu denies all wrongdoing and says the charges are part of a political plot against him.
Trump said he and Netanyahu “just went through HELL together” fighting Iran and that Netanyahu “could not have been better, sharper, or stronger.” He called the legal case against Netanyahu “politically motivated” and compared it to his own legal troubles. The US president concluded by saying, “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.”
There was no immediate response from Netanyahu’s office to Trump’s statement, though his political party shared a Hebrew translation of the post on social media. The intervention marks the first time an American president has publicly called for ending another country’s criminal prosecution of its leader.
Published: Jun 26, 2025 02:34 pm