An Israeli court has refused to postpone the corruption trial of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after President Donald Trump demanded that the case be dropped.
In a snub to Trump’s bid to “save” his top Middle East ally, the Jerusalem District Court rejected a push by Netanyahu to delay his testimony to concentrate on “security issues” amid the war with Iran.
While Netanyahu has sought to dismiss the case for years, Trump intervened in the saga on Wednesday, describing the trial as a “witch hunt” and saying it should be thrown out immediately.
“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 wrote on Truth Social, using a common nickname for Netanyahu.
“Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State…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.”
Netanyahu is currently on trial in Israel on charges of fraud, breach of trust, and bribery—all of which he denies.
The trial began in 2020 and involves three different cases. The first alleges he received lucrative gifts from wealthy businessmen in exchange for favors.
The second claims he did a dubious deal with a newspaper publisher to weaken a rival publication in return for favorable coverage.
And the third accuses him of favoring the Bezeq telecommunications company for positive coverage on a website the company owned.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and has a strong ally in Trump, who also believes he was the victim of a political witch hunt after he was indicted in four separate criminal cases last year.
Only one of those cases made it to trial, resulting in Trump being found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal with porn star Stormy Daniels.
But Trump’s intervention in the controversial legal process riled some party leaders in Israel, who were otherwise grateful to the president for America’s support in their war against Iran.
Yair Lapid, the leader of the Yesh Atid party, hit out at “interference in the legal process.” Gilad Kariv, a parliamentarian from the Democrats party, said: “The Jewish tradition teaches that no one is above the law” —the same catchcry Democrats in the U.S. would often say about Trump before he won back the White House.
In the statement rejecting Netanyahu’s request to postpone his testimony, Justice Rivka Friedman-Feldman said the request “does not present a detailed basis or reason that might justify canceling evidentiary hearings.”
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