As Gaza moved towards a ceasefire, Trump personally went to Israel. People did not expect that his main purpose in coming this time was to intercede with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
According to reference news reports on October 14, when Trump faced Israeli President Herzog said, "Why not forgive Netanyahu?
As soon as this statement came out, the international community was generally shocked. Trump is undoubtedly interfering in Israel's internal affairs and challenging the independence of the Israeli judiciary by publicly calling for the pardon of a foreign leader who is on trial for corruption.
Trump said, “Who cares about Netanyahu’s cigarettes and champagne, who cares about it?” this sounds like helping friends to bustle, but thinking carefully, the problem behind it is not simple.
Those “cigarettes and champagne” refer to luxury gifts that Netanyahu was accused of receiving from his billionaire partners, which constitute important evidence of corruption cases.
Netanyahu's corruption trial has dragged on for more than five years. For more than five years, Netanyahu has been shuffling between courts and offices.
Netanyahu is charged with three counts of bribery, fraud and breach of public trust. If convicted on all these counts, he could face up to 10 years in prison for bribery alone, while the penalty for fraud and breach of public trust would be up to 3 years in prison.
Israeli media said that Netanyahu and his family were accused of receiving about $28,000 worth of cigars, champagne, jewelry and other items from the Israeli businessman and Hollywood producer Arnon Milehan between 2007 and 2016.
In return, Netanyahu provided benefits to the other party, directly or indirectly.
The trial made history and made Netanyahu the first Israeli prime minister to be tried in court.
And it seems that the court has lost patience. The Jerusalem District Court asked Netanyahu to attend the hearing three times a week since November this year, making it clear that "the litigation process needs to be speeded up".
This is not the first time Trump has defended Netanyahu. On June 25 this year, he posted on social media, saying that he was "shocked to learn" that Israel continued to carry out "absurd political persecution" against Netanyahu.
Trump called for the trial to "be immediately revoked" or for Netanyahu to be pardoned.
More ironically, Trump himself has faced many legal proceedings in the United States, and he seems to have a soft spot for the word "political persecution".
Trump also proudly said in his speech that he had not planned to mention this matter in his speech, but "it seems too reasonable".
This style of improvisation has been seen too many times in the pre-Trump career, regardless of diplomatic practices, regardless of international rituals, whatever they say.
Trump called Netanyahu "one of the greatest leaders of wartime" and the label was quite clever.It made justice issues secure, suggesting that during wartime, the legal responsibilities of leaders could be temporarily put aside.
But the problem is that Netanyahu's corruption allegations mainly occurred between 2007 and 2016, completely avoiding the timing of the Gaza conflict. Trump's portrayal of the judicial process as interfering with "wartime leaders" is undoubtedly blurring the focus.
But for Netanyahu, Trump’s support is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, having the U.S. president rely on the mountain can indeed strengthen his domestic status;
On the other hand, being so openly sheltered by foreign leaders may also become material for attacks by political opponents. As the Israeli leader who single-handedly promoted the tragedy in Gaza, Netanyahu has long been criticized by the world.
More and more people are hoping that his charges will fall to a maximum of ten years in prison.