A Stick for Judges or a Gift for Bibi? Why Trump Threatened ‘Israel’ Over Netanyahu Prosecution

For the first time in “the history” of the Israeli Occupation’s judiciary, judges are under extraordinary pressure after direct intervention by U.S. President Donald Trump, who demanded the closure of the corruption case against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump didn’t just ask Israeli judges and politicians twice to halt Netanyahu’s trial—he also threatened to suspend military aid if they proceeded with prosecuting their “corrupt” prime minister.

This pressure led the court judges, who initially rejected Netanyahu’s request to delay the trial by two weeks, to relent and postpone it, citing his engagement in “critical matters.”

Hebrew media suggest Trump’s intervention to defend Netanyahu and demand an end to his trial may be linked to his push for a Gaza agreement—implying that Netanyahu is the main obstacle to a ceasefire in the Strip.

Trump might also be coordinating this campaign with Netanyahu for undisclosed “sinister” reasons, as he considers Netanyahu the best candidate to carry out his “regional plans”—especially after the Israeli Prime Minister partly “destabilized” Iran’s security and “hindered” its nuclear program—and may want to continue the aggression on the country, the media said.

Is Trump trying to strong-arm the court into following the “Trump model” — just as the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately shut down his own legal battles?

Trump argues that what Israelis are doing to their prime minister is no different from the “witch hunts” he faced in the U.S., which he ultimately escaped.

Or is Trump’s real goal to keep Netanyahu in power—dangling a “carrot” by offering to shield him from prosecution if he closes the Gaza file, strikes a deal with Hamas, and follows U.S. demands—while threatening to cut off military and economic aid if he refuses?

‘Trump Model’

Just as Trump repeatedly attacked U.S. judges who indicted him on corruption, election interference, and rebellion charges—calling these trials “witch hunts” and portraying himself as a victim—the saga ended with the Supreme Court, where he appointed three justices, ruling in 2024 by majority that Trump and other presidents enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution for “actions” taken while in office.

It appears Trump has now decided to apply the same approach with Netanyahu, declaring that the U.S. “will not tolerate” the continuation of Netanyahu’s corruption trial, while hinting that Washington might withhold billions of dollars in annual aid to “Israel.”

Trump highlighted the similarities between the legal cases against Netanyahu and his own personal battles, recalling how he faced similar accusations before winning his second term.

He described the prosecutions as political witch hunts, saying, “It is a POLITICAL WITCH HUNT, very similar to the Witch Hunt that I was forced to endure. It is INSANITY doing what the out-of-control prosecutors are doing to Bibi Netanyahu.”

In May 2024, Trump was convicted on 34 counts related to falsifying business records in a case involving payments made to silence a porn star. He also faces two federal cases, including one concerning efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, has faced charges since 2019 of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust—all of which he denies. He has called his trial a “vicious left-wing campaign” aimed at toppling a democratically elected right-wing leader.

He is accused in three separate cases, including allegations that he and his wife Sara accepted luxury gifts worth over $260,000 from wealthy individuals in exchange for political favors, as well as attempting to secure favorable media coverage from two Israeli news outlets.

Political analyst Nahum Barnea from Yedioth Ahronoth said on June 26, 2025, that Netanyahu is trying, through Trump’s intervention, to pressure the court into adopting the “Trump model” by halting his trial.

Netanyahu has enlisted Trump’s support to leverage threats against the Israeli judiciary and halt the legal proceedings against him.

Barnea said Netanyahu’s refusal to step down after his indictment has severely undermined the judiciary, strengthened the grip of fascist Kahanist parties on the political system, and brought the country to the brink of civil war.

Barnea warned that, with Trump’s interference, Netanyahu’s trial “risks turning the entire country into a banana republic,” especially after Netanyahu summoned the heads of Mossad and military intelligence to a closed court session in an effort to cancel his trial hearings.

According to the analyst, the trial is being dragged out with endless deliberations, fabricated delays, staged media theatrics, loss of judicial control, and arrogant behavior from the defendant and his lawyers.

The root cause is Trump, who has presented his own model before U.S. courts, refusing to act as a defendant and instead positioning himself above the law. Indeed, after winning the election, all charges against him were dropped and he was granted immunity—something Netanyahu desperately hopes to achieve.

Gaza in Exchange for Acquittal

Trump’s statements were clear: If it weren't America, “Israel” wouldn’t have held firm. Let’s move past a side issue like Netanyahu’s trial and focus on much bigger things.

“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!” he posted on Social Truth.

Israeli analysts see this as evidence that Trump’s intervention in the trial is motivated by broader goals related to upcoming deals, such as Gaza and the possible inclusion of other countries in the Abraham Accords.

Some believe Israeli officials may ultimately have to yield to Trump’s demand to pardon Netanyahu, portraying him as “a victorious hero” and “Israel’s savior.”

Trump’s aim is to ensure there’s a prime minister without legal troubles—someone Arab governments can engage with to normalize relations or sign new peace agreements.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said Trump should keep out of the matter. “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,” Lapid said.

“I hope and suppose that this is a reward he [Trump] is giving him [Netanyahu] because he is planning to pressure him on Gaza and force, to force him into a hostage deal that will end the war,” Lapid told Israeli news website Ynet.

Trump’s aggressive messages against Netanyahu’s trial were coordinated between the two as part of a deal to trade Netanyahu’s acquittal for a Gaza agreement ending the Israeli genocide.

Haaretz’s military analyst Amos Harel explained that this coordination was an attempt to link ending the Gaza war and releasing prisoners with halting Netanyahu’s trial—without Netanyahu having to pay the political price of admitting guilt.

Netanyahu, wanted by the International Criminal Court, is exploiting his relationship with Trump to use recent “military achievements” against Iran as leverage to pressure the Israeli judiciary into ending his trial without conviction or admission of guilt. Meanwhile, he continues to delay the prisoner issue to resolve his legal crisis.

“Now, Trump is trying to leverage the achievement in Iran to end the war in Gaza, bring home the hostages and normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia [and perhaps most important of all, to win the Nobel Peace Prize]. And for all this, Netanyahu has only one small request – help me escape trial,” Harel said.

Trump responded with aggressive statements, even threatening to cut off military aid to “Israel” if this “insanity” — meaning Netanyahu’s trial — continues.

Notably, Trump praised Netanyahu, calling him a “war hero” and “a prime minister who has done a fantastic job alongside the United States in achieving great success in eliminating the serious nuclear threat from Iran.”

He said Netanyahu is negotiating a deal with Hamas that will include the return of “hostages,” implying that Trump wants to save Netanyahu from trial in exchange for a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

Harel believes that “even if his recruitment of Trump fails, Netanyahu will try to exploit it to solidify the anger his supporters feel about the "deep state" supposedly harassing him.”

“As Netanyahu sees it, he is the 51st and most important hostage of them all. The real hostages – 20 living Israeli civilians and soldiers still being held by Hamas in Gaza and the bodies of 30 who have been killed – will need to wait till a more urgent problem is solved, namely an end to his trial.”

Reasons for the Delay

Under pressure from Trump, the District Court of Occupied Jerusalem agreed on June 29, 2025, to Netanyahu’s request to postpone his testimony by two weeks as part of his ongoing corruption trial.

For several months, Netanyahu has appeared twice a week in court to respond to corruption charges against him, but the sessions were paused during the Israeli war on Iran, which began on June 13 and lasted 12 days.

Channel 13 reported that after twice rejecting his requests to cancel his testimony over the next two weeks, Netanyahu attended a closed session at the District Court of Occupied Jerusalem accompanied by Shlomi Bendar, head of military intelligence (AMAN), and David Barnea, head of Mossad, in an attempt to persuade the court.

The channel explained that the judges “partially accepted the request” and announced the cancellation of two hearing sessions scheduled for July 14 and 16, 2025, after Netanyahu linked his inability to attend to “critical matters.”

Hebrew newspapers suggest there are two main reasons behind Netanyahu’s insistence on delaying the trial. The first relates to the possibility of reaching a deal in the Israeli Occupation’s ongoing war on Gaza.

Simultaneously, there is the expansion of normalization agreements to include countries such as Saudi Arabia, Syria, Indonesia, and Malaysia, according to claims by Tel Aviv—especially after promoting the so-called “Israeli Coalition for Regional Security” and the “Abraham Shield Plan” with 10 Arab leaders.

The second reason is the potential for military escalation, possibly in Lebanon or Yemen, or even a resumption of war on Iran—scenarios considered plausible by Israeli, American, and even Iranian sources.

Palestinian analysts say the intense focus in “Israel” on Netanyahu’s trial is surprising and serves as a distraction from his real crimes.

Palestinian analyst Suheil Kiwan described the trial as “a petty case.”

Kiwan stressed that “Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court as a war criminal, so what does it mean to try him for corruption, cigarettes, and champagne—trying to prove justice that doesn’t even exist in the Israeli Occupation state?”

In an analysis published on June 29, 2025, on the Arab 48 website, he said Netanyahu’s trial “has become a farce because he is being tried as a war criminal responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians and children—but is instead prosecuted over trivial bribery charges.”

He expressed astonishment that Netanyahu is being tried over “champagne bottles and a few million dollars,” calling it “the height of absurdity, a trivial case compared to what’s happening on the ground.”

“Trump wants to close the chapter on Netanyahu’s era to be able to deal with a more flexible government or prime minister, free from personal entanglements that hinder any initiative to stop the Gaza war proposed by him or his envoy, Steve Witkoff.”