Trump calls for dismissal of Netanyahu’s corruption trial

ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption hearing Monday to be dismissed in lieu of the service he has done for Israel.

“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 War Time Prime Minister!” Trump said Wednesday on his Truth Social platform.

In his post, he fervently defended Netanyahu by calling him a warrior that went through hell to fight “a very tough and brilliant longtime enemy of Israel, Iran.”

“Bibi Netanyahu was a WARRIOR, like perhaps no other Warrior in the History of Israel, and the result was something that nobody thought was possible, a complete elimination of potentially one of the biggest and most powerful Nuclear Weapons anywhere in the World,” he said.

He said that upon learning of Netanyahu’s court summons for Monday, he thought that it was unthinkable that such a “politically motivated case ‘concerning cigars, a Bugs Bunny doll, and numerous other unfair charges'” was nothing more than a witch hunt and that he “deserves much better than this, and so does the State of Israel.”

Trump lauded Netanyahu’s contributions to the “Survival of Israel” and demanded that “Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State.”

In doing so, he outlined that 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” and that this “TRAVESTY OF “JUSTICE” CAN NOT BE ALLOWED!”

Netanyahu faces three separate cases of corruption filed in 2019 against him -- Case 1,000, Case 2,000 and Case 4,000 -- which include accusations of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He denies any wrongdoing, calling the accusations “fake.”

Netanyahu, whose trial began on May 24, 2020, is the first sitting Israeli leader to take the stand as a criminal defendant in the country’s history.

Under Israeli law, he is not required to resign unless convicted by the Supreme Court, a process that could take several months.

Netanyahu also faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, with the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for him and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024 over atrocities in Gaza, where over 56,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed since Oct. 7, 2023.