U.S. President Donald Trump has sent a request to the Israeli government for a full pardon of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from various corruption charges that have led to a years-long trial, further entrenching Trump’s allyship with the genocidaire as they discuss plans to shape the future of the region.
Without evidence, Trump called the charges against Netanyahu “political” and “unjustified,” in a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog sent Wednesday. Netanyahu is facing charges on counts of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, and faces up to 10 years in jail if convicted of bribery.
In the letter, posted in full by Israeli media, Trump says that Netanyahu’s trial is “unnecessarily divert[ing]” the prime minister’s attention as Israel faces unnamed “adversaries.” Trump also touts his role in “peace” with regards to Israel and the Middle East — ignoring Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and escalated violence in and occupation of Lebanon and the West Bank.
“I believe that this ‘case’ against Bibi, who has fought alongside me for a long time, including against the very tough adversary of Israel, Iran, is a political, unjustified prosecution,” Trump said, without citing evidence to back his claims.
In a response, Herzog’s office demurred, saying that “anyone seeking a Presidential pardon must submit a formal request in accordance with the established procedures.”
This is one of numerous times that Trump has tried to intervene in the five-year-long trial, evidently following his own pattern of issuing pardons as political favors to his allies. This summer, as Israel’s genocide in Gaza was in full force, Trump called for the entire trial to be cancelled, calling it a “witch hunt.”
Having his trial cancelled would be a major boon to Netanyahu. The prime minister has consistently and repeatedly used military actions to postpone his trial, and at one point pushed intelligence officials to raise the threat level against him so that he wouldn’t have to testify in court.
The letter further entrenches Trump as an ally to Netanyahu as Israel commits hundreds of ceasefire violations in Gaza and beyond — violations happening, evidently, even though the U.S. military established a CENTCOM center in Israel with the explicit purpose of ensuring the ceasefire is implemented.
Gaza officials say that Israel has committed at least 282 ceasefire violations in the month it’s been in place. The Israeli military has killed at least 242 Palestinians and injured 622 others in that time, health officials say.
Trump’s letter also comes despite these violations jeopardizing the ceasefire agreement, which is central to Trump’s 20-point peace plan outlining long-term goals for Gaza. Politico reported this week that the Trump administration has reportedly privately questioned how to transition to long-term peace for the Gaza Strip — without acknowledging that a major roadblock to that transition is Israel.
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