CRITICISM FROM ISRAELI POLITICIANS
Opposition leader Yair Lapid told local media: “We are thankful to President Trump, but the president should not interfere in a judicial trial in an independent country.”
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has denied wrongdoing in a case that has seen multiple delays since the trial began in May 2020.
In the first of three cases, Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are accused of accepting over US$260,000 worth of gifts, including cigars, jewellery and champagne, from billionaires in return for political favours.
In two additional cases, Netanyahu is accused of seeking favourable media coverage in exchange for regulatory or financial benefits.
Simcha Rothman, a member of Netanyahu’s coalition and chair of the parliament’s judicial affairs committee, also criticised Trump’s intervention.
“It is not the role of the president of the United States to interfere in legal proceedings in the State of Israel,” Rothman said. He added, however, that “the management of Netanyahu’s cases is transforming the image of the State of Israel from a regional and global power into a banana republic.”
Meanwhile, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, another far-right ally, echoed Trump’s stance, calling the trial politically motivated.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also said continuing the trial during wartime was “distorted, unreasonable, contrary to the basic sense of justice,” supporting Trump’s call to cancel the case.
Since returning to office in late 2022, Netanyahu’s government has advanced sweeping judicial reforms that critics say aim to weaken the courts.
The prime minister has requested several postponements to the trial, citing the war in Gaza since April 2023, later the conflict in Lebanon, and now the hostilities with Iran.
