Latest news with #PoliticalWitchHunt
Wall Street Journal
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Trump Tries to Issue a Pardon—in Israel
President Trump has taken up a new cause: the Benjamin Netanyahu innocence project. 'It is a POLITICAL WITCH HUNT, very similar to the Witch Hunt that I was forced to endure,' he wrote on Truth Social on Saturday, one of three posts against the Israeli Prime Minister's trial, which has dragged on since 2020. 'LET BIBI GO, HE'S GOT A BIG JOB TO DO!' The President isn't the first to wonder, 'How is it possible that the Prime Minister of Israel can be forced to sit in a Courtroom all day long, over NOTHING'? At issue are vague breach-of-trust charges over his alleged receipt, from 2007 to 2016, of gifts of cigars and champagne valued at some $200,000 in total, plus a novel legal theory that construes positive news coverage as an illegal bribe. But the workings of Israel's overactive legal system and domestic politics aren't within a U.S. President's purview. We doubt Mr. Trump is familiar with the details of the Netanyahu case, nor should he be. It isn't America's place to say, as Mr. Trump has, that 'Bibi Netanyahu's trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY,' or to threaten, 'We are not going to stand for this' after mentioning U.S. military aid. That aid furthers a strategic purpose, as all the world saw this June in Iran, not a political one. We criticized Joe Biden in 2023 for intervening in Israel's judicial debate. That looked like an effort to topple Mr. Netanyahu, whereas Mr. Trump's is to prop him up. Neither is appropriate for an ally, and neither is in the long-term interest of the U.S.-Israel alliance.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump suggests billions for Israel at stake over ‘war hero' Netanyahu's corruption trial
President Donald Trump appeared to suggest that billions of dollars of U.S. aid to Israel could be at stake if prosecutors do not drop corruption charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump lashed out at Israeli prosecutors in a Truth Social post Saturday evening and said it was 'terrible' what was happening to 'war hero' Netanyahu, who faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He denies all of the allegations. While the president did not directly threaten prosecutors, he highlighted that the United States has sent billions of dollars to Israel and said the nation was 'not going to stand' for it. 'It is INSANITY doing what the out-of-control prosecutors are doing to Bibi Netanyahu,' Trump said. 'The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to stand for this.' He called Netanyahu's prosecution a 'POLITICAL WITCH HUNT' and compared the case to the 'very similar to the Witch Hunt that I was forced to endure' following the president's multiple indictments on conspiracy and fraud charges. Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, having received hundreds of billions of dollars in military and economic support over the last several decades, including billions in additional support for Israel during its war in Gaza. The president said on Saturday that Netanyahu was 'right now in the process of negotiating a Deal with Hamas,' but did not specify further details. Trump told reporters on Friday that he believed a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was close. Trump's intervention, the second in days, comes as Netanyahu's cross-examination, which began on June 4, is set to resume Monday. Netanyahu was indicted in 2019. He pleaded not guilty after the trial, involving three criminal cases, began in 2020. In the first case, Netanyahu is alleged to have committed fraud and breach of trust over claims he and his wife Sara received expensive gifts illicitly from a Hollywood media mogul, according to The Times of Israel. In the second, he is accused of fraud and breach of trust over allegedly trying to persuade a newspaper publisher to give him positive coverage in exchange for legislation weakening the newspaper's key rival. In the third case, Netanyahu is alleged to have passed legislation that financially benefited a telecommunications giant shareholder in return for more favorable media coverage. Trump vowed to 'save' the Israeli leader 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 in a post on Truth Social. '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,' he added. The Trump administration has been working on a deal after Israel shattered a two-month truce with Hamas by launching strikes in April. Interest in resolving the crisis picked up steam this month after Israel's bombing campaign in Iran and Trump's decision to bomb several Iranian nuclear facilities. A ceasefire to the 12-day Israel-Iran conflict went into effect early this week.
The Independent
29-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Trump suggests billions for Israel at stake over ‘war hero' Netanyahu's corruption trial
President Donald Trump appeared to suggest that billions of dollars of U.S. aid to Israel could be at stake if prosecutors do not drop corruption charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump lashed out at Israeli prosecutors in a Truth Social post Saturday evening and said it was 'terrible' what was happening to 'war hero' Netanyahu, who faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He denies all of the allegations. While the president did not directly threaten prosecutors, he highlighted that the United States has sent billions of dollars to Israel and said the nation was 'not going to stand' for it. 'It is INSANITY doing what the out-of-control prosecutors are doing to Bibi Netanyahu,' Trump said. 'The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to stand for this.' He called Netanyahu's prosecution a 'POLITICAL WITCH HUNT' and compared the case to the 'very similar to the Witch Hunt that I was forced to endure' following the president's multiple indictments on conspiracy and fraud charges. Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, having received hundreds of billions of dollars in military and economic support over the last several decades, including billions in additional support for Israel during its war in Gaza. The president said on Saturday that Netanyahu was 'right now in the process of negotiating a Deal with Hamas,' but did not specify further details. Trump told reporters on Friday that he believed a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was close. Trump's intervention, the second in days, comes as Netanyahu's cross-examination, which began on June 4, is set to resume Monday. Netanyahu was indicted in 2019. He pleaded not guilty after the trial, involving three criminal cases, began in 2020. In the first case, Netanyahu is alleged to have committed fraud and breach of trust over claims he and his wife Sara received expensive gifts illicitly from a Hollywood media mogul, according to The Times of Israel. In the second, he is accused of fraud and breach of trust over allegedly trying to persuade a newspaper publisher to give him positive coverage in exchange for legislation weakening the newspaper's key rival. In the third case, Netanyahu is alleged to have passed legislation that financially benefited a telecommunications giant shareholder in return for more favorable media coverage. Trump vowed to 'save' the Israeli leader 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 in a post on Truth Social. '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,' he added. The Trump administration has been working on a deal after Israel shattered a two-month truce with Hamas by launching strikes in April. Interest in resolving the crisis picked up steam this month after Israel's bombing campaign in Iran and Trump's decision to bomb several Iranian nuclear facilities. A ceasefire to the 12-day Israel-Iran conflict went into effect early this week.
