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.
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