Trump Asks Trial Of Corruption Case Netanyahu To Be Canceled, Israel's Opposition Leader: Don't Get Involved

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump has shown his defense for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is involved in a corruption case.

Trump called on Israel to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or cancel his corruption trial.

Netanyahu was charged in 2019 in Israel on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust - all of which Netanyahu denies. The trial began in 2020 and involved three criminal cases.

Netanyahu once asserted that he was innocent.

"Netanyahu's trial must be CANCELED, IMMEDIATELY, or pardon given to the Great Hero, who has done so much for the State (Israel)," Trump wrote at Truth Social.

Trump admitted that he knew his friend would be brought to court on Monday next week.

Trump praised Netanyahu as "the fighter". "It was the United States that saved Israel, and now it is the United States that will save Aunt Netanyahu," he continued.

This seems to refer to the US involvement and support for Israel's attacks on Iran's nuclear program.

It's unclear whether Trump meant the US could do anything to help Netanyahu in his legal battle.

The Republican president described the case against the Israeli leader as a "witch hunt," a term Trump has frequently used for US efforts to try him and the same term Netanyahu uses to describe his own long-standing trial.

Meanwhile, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said Trump should not interfere in this matter.

"With all due respect and gratitude to the president of the United States, he should not interfere in the legal process of an independent country," said Lapid.

"I hope and think that this is the gift he (Trump) gave him (Netanyahu) because he plans to pressure him in Gaza and force him to make a hostage-taking deal that will end the war," Lapid told Israeli news website Ynet.