Trump calls for Netanyahu corruption trial to be scrapped claiming it's a ‘witch-hunt'
Donald Trump vowed to 'save' Benjamin Netanyahu as he hit out at the Israeli prime minister's ' witch-hunt ' corruption trial.
Trump claimed Israel's prime minister was a 'great hero' and 'warrior' who faced politically motivated charges and called for the trial to be cancelled.
The president's intervention comes as Netanyahu's cross-examination, which began on 4 June, is set to resume on Monday. He faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust and denies all of them.
'Such a WITCH HUNT, for a man who has given so much, is unthinkable to me. He deserves much better than this, and so does the State of Israel,' Trump posted on Truth Social.
'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 was indicted in 2019. He pleaded not guilty after the trial, involving three criminal cases, began in 2020.
In the first case, the Israeli PM 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 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 which financially benefited a telecommunications giant shareholder in return for more favourable media coverage.
Trump frequently used the term 'witch-hunt' to describe his own legal battles prior to his re-election in November 2024.
Israeli President Issac Herzog has the power to pardon Netanyahu but has been quoted by Israeli media saying that is 'not currently on the table.'
It was unclear if Trump meant the US could do anything to aid Netanyahu, but it marked a change of tone from Tuesday when he claimed Israel and Iran 'don't know what the f*** they're doing.'
Seven US stealth bombers dropped 14 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs on Iran's nuclear facilities early on Sunday morning after Israel began striking Iranian targets on 13 June.
Trump claimed Iran was days away from developing a nuclear weapon, and later announced a ceasefire agreement had been reached between Israel and Iran.
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Binyamin Netanyahu, in a just released video, says Israel 'achieved a great victory' against Iran.'This victory opens up an opportunity for a dramatic expansion of the peace agreements. We are working hard on this,' he said. 'Along with the release of our hostages and the defeat of Hamas, there is a window of opportunity here that must not be missed. Not even a single day can be wasted.' The Israeli leader's comments come hours after a report claimed that he and Donald Trump had agreed to end the war in Gaza within a fortnight, and begin a process where some unnamed Arab states sign a peace deal with Israel. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, has said following the US actions in Iran over the weekend, 'we look forward to sustaining a long and durable peace' in the Middle East. She was speaking during an ongoing press briefing in Washington. 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'What I can tell you, and I think everyone agrees on this, is that there is very considerable damage.' Binyamin Netanyahu is to visit Trump in Washington as early as the second week of July, the Israeli news channel i24 reports. A Pentagon intelligence leak has sparked a war of words over Iran's nuclear programme, with conflicting assessments from US intelligence agencies and the White House fuelling heated debate. Former Pentagon official Jim Townsend joins us to unpack the challenges of intelligence and examine the fraught relationship between the White House and the intelligence community. President Trump's comparison of the Iran strikes to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 has stirred anger in Japan. Earlier this week, Trump said the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities helped end the recent war in the Middle East like the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan brought World War II to a close. 'It's scary that a person with such a view is serving as leader,' said Masao Tomonaga, a survivor from Nagasaki. Shiro Suzuki, the mayor of Nagasaki, said the 'use of atomic weapons should never be tolerated for any purpose'. Toshiyuki Mimaki, who was a child in Hiroshima when the bombing took place, said: 'How can the president of America say such a thing? I just don't understand. What he said is totally unacceptable.' Mimaki is a leader of Nihon Hidankyo, a group of survivors that won a Nobel Peace Prize last year. The Hiroshima city assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution calling for the peaceful settlement of all conflicts, saying Trump's remark apparently justifying the atomic bombing 'cannot be overlooked or accepted,' Japan's NHK national television reported. Israel wanted to eliminate Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, according to its defence minister, Israel Katz. 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His request came after President Trump said on Truth Social, that Netanyahu's trial 'should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY'. He also suggested a 'Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State'. The Israeli prime minister denies charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, for which he has been on trial since 2020. It had long been assumed that at least one of Iran's main nuclear facilities — the uranium enrichment plant at Fordow — was hidden so deeply beneath a mountain that it would prove extremely difficult for Israel to destroy it. Israel heavily attacked Natanz, the other enrichment site, Isfahan, where solid uranium was converted to gas for enrichment and then back again, and other sites. It left Fordow to the Americans. Israel's whole attack on Iran was, therefore, a gamble. If the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, did not persuade President Trump to join the assault with his B-2s and his GBU-57 'bunker busters', it might fail at the Fordow hurdle or, at best, only inflict a minor setback to the nuclear programme. • Read in full: Iran's setback after US strikes may only be temporary Asked whether he believes highly enriched uranium was moved out of the nuclear sites before Saturday's strikes, Hegseth said there was 'nothing to suggest' anything was moved out by the Iranians ahead of time. Dan Caine says that the 30,000lb bunker-busters behaved as the military expected, but that it will not provide a damage assessment due to it being a job for the intelligence community. 'We don't mark our own homework,' he said. Dan Caine, the air force general, says that two intelligence officials were investigating the Iranian nuclear site at Fordow for 15 years. They knew it 'wasn't being built for any peaceful purposes … they realised we didn't have a weapon [to take out the plant],' he said. 'Operation Midnight Hammer was the culmination of their work. 'The weapons were designed, planned and delivered to achieve the effects in the mission space.' Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. President Trump has said on Truth Social that there is rumour that the New York Times and CNN will fire reporters 'who made up the fake stories on the Iran nuclear sites'. Dan Caine, the air force general and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, is now talking about the Iranian attacks on the US base in Qatar on Monday. Caine described the deployment of Patriot missiles to defend the base as 'the largest single Patriot engagement in US military history'. He would not say how many rounds were fired, saying it is classified. 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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, has said his country delivered a 'hand slap to the face of America' in his first televised address since the fragile ceasefire was declared in the war with Israel. Claiming victory over Israel, Ayatollah Khamenei said the US had only intervened because 'it felt that if it did not intervene, the Zionist regime would be utterly destroyed.' He warned the US 'will definitely pay a heavy price' should it attack Iran again. His comments came in the wake of an attack on Sunday in which American forces hit three Iranian nuclear facilities with bunker-buster bombs and cruise missiles.
