President Donald Trump renewed his demand overnight Sunday to scrap Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial.
“It is terrible what they are doing in Israel to Bibi Netanyahu. He is a War Hero, and a Prime Minister who did a fabulous job working with the United States to bring Great Success in getting rid of the dangerous Nuclear threat in Iran,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
At which point Trump revealed: “Importantly, he is right now in the process of negotiating a Deal with Hamas, which will include getting the Hostages back.”
President Trump said last Friday that he believes a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas could be reached within a week, Reuters reported. Speaking to reporters during an Oval Office event celebrating a Congo-Rwanda agreement, Trump said he had just spoken with individuals involved in the negotiations and expressed optimism that a ceasefire was near.
Hamas has indicated it is willing to release the remaining hostages in Gaza as part of any agreement to end the war. Israel, however, maintains that the conflict can only conclude if Hamas is fully disarmed and dismantled—a condition the terrorist group continues to reject.
Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Netanyahu to “say we won and go home,” to paraphrase Sen. George D. Aiken.
Incidentally, the Vermont Republican Aiken did not say, “Let’s declare victory and go home.” Speaking about the war in Vietnam in October 1966, he said, “Let’s declare that we have achieved victory in our struggle to meet attainable military goals and then redeploy our troops in cities that the enemy could have no hope of capturing, thus forcing them either to escalate the war, and thereby face the condemnation of the world, or agree to negotiate.”
It’s not nearly as pithy, which is why everybody prefers the short version.
The President then returned to his bluster: “How is it possible that the Prime Minister of Israel can be forced to sit in a Courtroom all day long, over NOTHING (Cigars, Bugs Bunny Doll, etc.). It is a POLITICAL WITCH HUNT, very similar to the Witch Hunt that I was forced to endure. This travesty of “Justice” will interfere with both Iran and Hamas negotiations. In other words, it is INSANITY doing what the out-of-control prosecutors are doing to Bibi Netanyahu.”
And then, with more than a hint of a threat, Trump continued: “The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to stand for this. We just had a Great Victory with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu at the helm — And this greatly tarnishes our Victory. LET BIBI GO, HE’S GOT A BIG JOB TO DO!”
Last Thursday, Trump posted an unusually lengthy message on Truth Social that began: “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’s Thursday post concluded: “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. Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State. Perhaps there is no one that I know who could have worked in better harmony with the President of the United States, ME, than Bibi Netanyahu. 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!”
In the past, Trump and pro-Israel Republicans accused Obama, Biden, and Harris of threatening military aid as leverage to influence Israel’s security policies, most notably regarding the 2-state solution. Trump’s tying US aid to his demand to halt the “witch hunt against Netanyahu” is unprecedented.
