By: Fern Sidman

In an extraordinary and unprecedented intervention into the internal judicial affairs of a close foreign ally, President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded that the criminal trial of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be “cancelled immediately,” calling it a politically motivated “witch hunt” that insults the legacy of a leader who just helped avert regional catastrophe.

As reported by The Times of Israel, the remarks came just days after Israel, in close coordination with the United States, carried out an unprecedented military operation targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. The strikes, involving elite Israeli Air Force units and U.S. B-2 bombers, marked a turning point in the volatile Middle East conflict—and, for Trump, solidified Netanyahu’s place in what he called “the pantheon of Israel’s greatest heroes.”

“BREAKING NEWS… 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 posted on his Truth Social platform Wednesday morning.

The post, delivered in Trump’s signature style—punctuated with capital letters and exclamation points—was immediately picked up by major Israeli news outlets, including The Times of Israel, which described it as “a direct challenge to Israel’s judicial independence.”

In the lengthy and impassioned message, Trump lavished praise on Netanyahu for his wartime leadership. “Bibi Netanyahu was a WARRIOR, like perhaps no other Warrior in the History of Israel,” Trump wrote. “Anybody else would have suffered losses, embarrassment, and chaos! The result was something that nobody thought was possible—a complete elimination of potentially one of the biggest and most powerful nuclear weapons anywhere in the world.”

The president was referring to the coordinated U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran’s Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz nuclear facilities—a mission hailed by Netanyahu as having “sent Iran’s nuclear ambitions into oblivion,” as The Times of Israel reported Tuesday.

Trump, seizing on the nationalistic fervor in Israel following the operation, framed Netanyahu’s continued legal battles as a betrayal of a man who had just helped save the nation from annihilation.

“We were fighting, literally, for the survival of Israel,” Trump emphasized, “and there is nobody in Israel’s history that fought harder or more competently than Bibi Netanyahu.”

As The Times of Israel report noted, Netanyahu’s trial—paused for weeks due to Israel’s wartime emergency court procedures—was scheduled to resume this week. The proceedings had been placed on hold as the judiciary operated in emergency mode during the Israel-Iran conflict, limiting court activity to only urgent cases.

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, faces multiple charges of corruption in three separate cases—known collectively as Cases 1000, 2000, and 4000.

Case 1000 involves allegations that Netanyahu and his wife Sara accepted lavish gifts from Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and others, valued at more than NIS 700,000, in exchange for political favors—including assistance with U.S. visa renewals and Israeli tax considerations.

Case 2000 revolves around a proposed quid pro quo between Netanyahu and newspaper publisher Arnon Mozes, in which the Yedioth Ahronoth daily would give Netanyahu favorable coverage in return for legislation that would cripple a rival publication.

Case 4000, widely seen as the most serious, centers on claims that Netanyahu granted lucrative regulatory benefits to Bezeq telecom shareholder Shaul Elovitch in exchange for positive coverage from the Walla news website, which Elovitch also controlled.

Netanyahu has categorically denied all allegations, calling them a politically orchestrated conspiracy by prosecutors, the police, and hostile media outlets. “It’s a political coup attempt,” he declared at the outset of the trial in 2020—language that Trump echoed almost verbatim on Wednesday.

“Such a WITCH HUNT, for a man who has given so much, is unthinkable to me,” Trump wrote, drawing explicit parallels between Netanyahu’s legal ordeal and his own protracted battles with American prosecutors. “Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State.”

The report at The Times of Israel emphasized the unprecedented nature of Trump’s comments, noting that no sitting U.S. president has ever called for the dismissal of a criminal trial in another democracy—especially one so politically sensitive and high-profile.

Though the office of the Israeli Prime Minister did not issue an official response, a spokesperson for Netanyahu’s Likud Party reposted Trump’s Truth Social post in Hebrew on X (formerly Twitter), signaling tacit appreciation for the statement if not outright endorsement.

Trump concluded his message by saying, “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. THIS TRAVESTY OF ‘JUSTICE’ CAN NOT BE ALLOWED!”

Legal experts and political opponents swiftly rebuked Trump’s intervention. As The Times of Israel reported, leaders of Israel’s opposition parties warned that any move to suspend or quash the trial would be seen as a capitulation to foreign pressure and a blow to judicial independence.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein told The Times of Israel that “foreign leaders should refrain from interfering with Israeli court proceedings,” adding that “the integrity of the judiciary must remain above the political fray.”

Former Prime Minister Yair Lapid also weighed in, calling Trump’s remarks “a disgraceful assault on Israel’s rule of law.”

While both nations’ governments continue to assess the long-term consequences of their joint military operation against Iran, Trump’s comments have added a new, unpredictable wrinkle to an already complex diplomatic landscape.

As The Times of Israel report observed in a lead editorial Wednesday, “The ceasefire may have halted missiles from Iran, but the political shrapnel at home—both in Jerusalem and Washington—is far from settled.”