LAST UPDATE | 26 Jun

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU HAS thanked US President Donald Trump after he weighed in on his long-running corruption trial and called for Israel’s “Great War Time Prime Minister” to be exonerated after the recent conflict with Iran. 

Netanyahu’s trial has been delayed many times since it began in May 2020, with the Israeli leader requesting postponements due to the current conflict in Gaza and later conflict in Lebanon.

In a first case, Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are accused of accepting more than $260,000 (€222,000) worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewelry and champagne from billionaires in exchange for assisting him with personal and business interests.

Two other cases allege that Netanyahu attempted to negotiate more favourable coverage for himself and his family in two Israeli media outlets.

Donald Trump's Truth Social post Screenshot Screenshot

“I was deeply moved by your heartfelt support for me and your incredible support for Israel and the Jewish people,” Netanyahu wrote on X, sharing a copy of Trump’s Truth Social post in which he described the case as a “witch hunt”.

In December, Netanyahu became the first Israeli prime minister to take the stand as a criminal defendant at the same time as he faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes allegations. He has denied any wrongdoing, calling the accusations “absurd”. 

In a long post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he was “shocked to hear” that Netanyahu has been summoned to court on Monday as part of the trial. 

The US president, who himself was found guilty of 34 felony charges in a hush money case that he described as a “witch hunt”, used the same terminology to describe Netanyahu’s case. 

He wrote: “Bibi and I just went through HELL together, fighting a very tough and brilliant longtime enemy of Israel, Iran, and Bibi could not have been better, sharper, or stronger in his LOVE for the incredible Holy Land.

“Such a WITCH HUNT, for a man who has given so much, is unthinkable to me,” he continued. 

“Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero.”

The International Criminal Court has also issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu. He is accused of a number of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and creating conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the civilian population in Gaza.

Trump’s lavish praise for Netanyahu came a day after the US leader angrily berated Israel in an expletive-filled rant for apparently preparing to attack Iran despite a ceasefire announced the previous night.

The unusual public display of anger at Israel saw Trump apparently trying to cajole his ally to call off warplanes in real time.

Moments later he said Israeli planes would “turn around and head home.”

Before the agreement of a ceasefire on Tuesday, Israel had bombed Iranian nuclear and military sites over the course of 12 days of war, while Iran launched waves of missiles at its regional arch foe in their deadliest-ever confrontation.

The US joined the fray in support of its ally, hitting two nuclear facilities with massive bunker-buster bombs over the weekend, while guided missiles from a submarine struck a third.

Trump announced the ceasefire shortly after Iran retaliated with strikes targeting a US base in Qatar that the president said had been fully defeated and forewarned.

“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,” Trump said in his social media post.

With reporting from © AFP 2025