US President Donald Trump on Monday called on the Israeli parliament to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently facing three corruption trials.
Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are accused of accepting luxury items worth over $260,000 — including cigars, jewellery, and champagne — from wealthy businessmen in exchange for political favours.
“Cigars and champagne — who really cares about that?” Trump quipped during his speech, praising Netanyahu as one of Israel’s “great wartime leaders.”
Turning to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Trump added humorously, “Hey, I’ve got an idea, Mr President — why don’t you pardon him?” He then noted, “That wasn’t in the prepared remarks, but I happen to like this gentleman here,” gesturing towards Netanyahu.
The Israeli leader has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and his supporters have described the charges as politically driven.
In addition to the gifts scandal, Netanyahu faces allegations of attempting to secure favourable media coverage in two separate cases.
Since returning to power in late 2022, Netanyahu has introduced sweeping judicial reforms that critics claim were designed to weaken Israel’s courts — reforms that sparked months of mass protests, which only ended after the Gaza war began.
Netanyahu is also under an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for alleged war crimes linked to Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
Trump did not mention the ICC case during his speech to the Knesset, though the United States has condemned the warrant and sanctioned ICC officials involved.
In a June post on his Truth Social platform, Trump compared Netanyahu’s legal troubles to his own, describing both as “political witch hunts.”
The former US president has long claimed that his own indictments were politically motivated attempts by his rivals to use the Justice Department against him.