Trump said this week that he wants Netanyahu’s trial “CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has once again asked for proceedings for his criminal trial to be postponed, just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump called for the entire trial to be cancelled, deeming it a “witch hunt.”
According to Haaretz, Netanyahu’s attorney made the request on Thursday, citing Israel’s war with Iran and other “regional and global developments” in a court filing. His testimony was scheduled to be on Monday.
The request said that the far right leader must devote his energy to other issues, “including the management of the war in Gaza.” His legal team has already won a request for his trial hearings to be held two days a week instead of three, the Israeli outlet reports.
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The filing came just after Trump, who has been in close contact with Netanyahu, posted a screed railing against the trial on Truth Social on Wednesday evening. He suggested that prosecutors should drop the trial as a result of the war with Iran, which has tentatively ended in a ceasefire that started earlier this week.
“Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State,” Trump said. “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.”
The Israeli leader thanked Trump for his comment, saying: “I look forward to continue working with you to defeat our common enemies.”
Netanyahu was originally charged on counts of bribery, breach of trust, and fraud in 2019, over allegations of accepting lavish gifts from individuals for political favors; trading political favors with top Israeli paper Yedioth Ahronoth; and striking a similar deal with Israel’s top telecommunications company.
If convicted of bribery, Netanyahu faces up to 10 years in jail. He has pleaded not guilty.
Testimony in his trial was originally supposed to start in July 2024, with the trial having been majorly delayed since it began in 2020. However, the testimony was postponed, reportedly due to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Netanyahu has repeatedly been accused of starting drastic military actions in order to solidify his support among his coalition and keep himself out of prison. Some commentators have theorized that is the reason that Netanyahu started Israel’s genocide in Gaza and has prolonged it for over 20 months — sacrificing tens, if not hundreds of thousands of lives of Palestinians in Gaza and plunging the entire population into hell in order to satisfy his extremist regime partners.
Trump’s attempt at intervention is extraordinary, representing another push for Trump’s two-tiered legal system — here, for a foreign official in a domestic criminal case.
Trump and other lawmakers in the U.S. have also taken unprecedented measures to shield Netanyahu from liability for the genocide in Gaza. Trump and hundreds of lawmakers in the House, including dozens of Democrats, have backed sanctions for the International Criminal Court over its arrest warrant for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
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