Standing side-by-side with President Donald Trump outside his residence in Palm Beach, Florida, dressed in a twinning suit and tie, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu grinned as the U.S. leader responded to a question from a reporter about whether his Israeli counterpart should be pardoned in his trial for corruption and fraud.
“He’s a wartime prime minister who is a hero,” Trump said. “How do you not give a pardon? I think it’s a very hard thing not to do it.”
While the meeting on Monday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estatefocused on pressing Middle East issues such as Iran and Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, for Netanyahu, it was also a domestic power play.
The premier’s visit to the United States, which will conclude on Thursday, paused his cross-examination in Case 4000, in which Netanyahu is charged with bribery and fraud for allegedly advancing regulatory decisions in exchange for favorable press coverage. Netanyahu has denied all charges and described the case as a “witch hunt.”
The trip also gave Netanyahu a public relations boost ahead of elections in Israel in the new year. They will be the first since the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, which shattered his security credentials in the eyes of much of the public. During their joint news conference, Trump repeatedly praised Netanyahu, saying that if there had been another leader in place on Oct. 7, it’s possible “Israel would not exist” right now.
“Trump gave him his campaign for the next elections,” Gershon Baskin, an Israeli commentator and former back-channel negotiator with Hamas, said of Trump’s praise, describing the news conference as “bewildering.”
“All he has to do is keep repeating: ‘Without Netanyahu, Israel doesn’t exist,’” Baskin said.
Netanyahu’s critics have accused him of dragging out regional conflicts and amping up alleged threats from Iran to distract from his legal woes and the deeper probing of the security failings that led to the Hamas attacks.
Out of 60 scheduled hearings since Netanyahu’s trial testimony officially began in June, only 15 have gone ahead without being canceled or cut short, according to a count by Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The prime minister has blamed ongoing conflicts or security concerns for canceling more than a dozen sessions.
But ever a political survivor, Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has managed to cling to his position as a seemingly endless slew of domestic scandals and investigations have nipped at his heels.
In recent days, Israeli media outlets have published reports detailing what they said were missed warnings from Egypt about the security situation in Gaza ahead of Oct. 7. At the same time, what is known in Israel as “Qatargate” — an allegation that members of the prime minister’s office were paid by Qatar to promote its interests — has returned to haunt Netanyahu as potential new details were leaked online.
Opposition politicians in Israel have described the Qatar-related accusation as an act of treason and demanded Netanyahu’s resignation.
In Gaza, Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition have been reluctant to move forward with a U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement that was brokered in October. The deal, hailed by Trump, brought much of Israel’s military actions to a halt.
But the next phase could pave the way for a return of the Palestinian Authority, the body that governs the Palestinian-controlled parts of the West Bank, as well as new Palestinian police forces and near-total Israeli withdrawal.
Baskin is among those in Israel who view Netanyahu’s renewed focus on Iran, which he says is rebuilding its missile capacity after Israeli strikes in June, as an effort to distract attention from Gaza.
Ahead of the meeting in Florida, there was an expectation that “Trump is going to let Bibi have it” over Gaza, said Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States. But the appearance by the two leaders appeared to be “pretty much a love fest,” he said.
Oren said one of the most remarkable comments came from Trump when he pledged potential military action against Iran. “I hope they’re not trying to build up again,” Trump said of Tehran’s missile arsenal. The U.S. also carried out strikes against Iranian nuclear sites in June. “Because if they are, we’re going to have no choice but very quickly to eradicate that buildup,” he said.
Despite criticism from his MAGA base that he is prioritizing foreign policy over domestic issues, “Trump put a credible military threat back on the table,” Oren said, adding that Netanyahu’s decision to tell Trump he had been awarded the Israel Prize, the state’s highest cultural honor, appealed to the president’s ego.
“It’s one of these Bibi strokes of brilliance that he does occasionally,” Oren said, used a commonly used nickname for Netanyahu.
The prime minister is legally obliged to hold elections this year. His right-wing Likud party took a beating in public opinion polls after Oct. 7, but has clawed its way back to the top spot, with a slim lead over its nearest rival.
“Netanyahu will conduct polls over the weekend, and if the needle moves even slightly, I believe he will trigger elections,” said Gayil Talshir, a political scientist at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. “He won’t find a better jumping-off point than this.”
But while his appearance with Trump appeared outwardly as a win for Netanyahu, it was unclear exactly what took place at the meeting behind closed doors. Trump said that Hamas would be given a “very short period to disarm,” or there would be “hell to pay” if the militant group did not comply. Other countries, he said, are prepared to go in and “wipe them out.”
Trump has struggled, however, to get countries to sign onto a stabilization force for Gaza, which would monitor the enclave’s demilitarization. The few nations that have expressed some willingness to join were clear that they do not want to confront Hamas.
Still, the president and his team are committed to rolling out the next phase of the plan and establishing a Palestinian technocratic committee for Gaza, Baskin said.
On Iran, while Trump said he would support military action, he also said that the missile buildup was not confirmed.
“The American method is to provide public backing while dictating what will happen behind closed doors, and in my estimation, that is exactly what occurred,” Talshir said. Netanyahu has little ability to resist U.S. demands conveyed behind the scenes, she said.
“Excessive compliments come with a price,” said Yossi Verter, a political analyst and columnist at Haaretz newspaper.
He pointed to Trump’s break with Netanyahu on the role of Turkey in Gaza. Israel is adamantly opposed to allowing Turkish forces enter the enclave as part of the stabilization force. But Trump waved away those concerns, saying Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is “a very good friend of mine.”
“I do respect him and Bibi respects him, and they’re not going to have a problem,” he said.
In the meantime, Netanyahu invited Trump to Israel to receive his award in April, an opportunity for the prime minister to get another boost for his campaign, critics said.
“It will be a massive festival, which Netanyahu will milk for all it’s worth,” Verter said. “Just a few months before the elections.”
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