Trump calls for Netanyahu’s trial to be canceled

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President Donald Trump has termed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long-running corruption trial a “witch hunt” and called for it to be canceled.

“Such a WITCH HUNT, for a man who has given so much, is unthinkable to me,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. He added that he had just learned Netanyahu had been “summoned to court on Monday,” in the case, which began in 2020.

“He deserves much better than this, and so does the State of Israel. Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero,” Trump added.

Netanyahu is facing charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases.

Prosecutors have alleged that he exchanged regulatory favors with media owners in Israel seeking positive press coverage.

He has also been accused of accepting gifts — including cigars and champagne — in exchange for advancing the personal interests of Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer. Prosecutors say these were worth hundreds of thousands of shekels.

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister and the first sitting Israeli leader to have taken the stand as a criminal defendant, has roundly denied the allegations, similarly branding them a “witch hunt.”

A verdict isn’t expected until 2026 at the earliest, while Netanyahu will also have the option to appeal to the Supreme Court.

One of Netanyahu's main rivals, opposition leader Yair Lapid, criticized Trump's decision to weigh in on the proceedings. “With all due respect and gratitude to the president of the United States, he’s not supposed to intervene in a legal process of an independent state," he told the Israeli news website Ynet on Wednesday.

Netanyahu's supporters, meanwhile, welcomed Trump’s comments. In a post on X, he said it was “time to put an end to this outrageous injustice and personal persecution — and cancel this absurd trial once and for all“.

Netanyahu has faced repeated allegations throughout Israel's war in the Gaza Strip that he is delaying an end to the conflict to stall the corruption trial. He has cited the war and security concerns as his reasons for asking for the proceedings to be postponed.