Trump urges Herzog to pardon Netanyahu: ‘Who cares about cigars and champagne?’

US president’s call for end to PM’s trial during speech to Knesset prompts murmurs, cheers and chants of ‘Bibi’; Liberman advises Netanyahu: ‘He’s right. Take a pardon and quit at your peak’

US President Donald Trump on Monday called on President Isaac Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his corruption charges, making the suggestion during his address to the Knesset, and characterizing the prime minister’s trial as a trifling matter of “cigars and champagne.”

The prime minister is currently on trial on corruption charges, including charges of fraud and breach of trust over the alleged acceptance of luxury gifts.

“I have an idea, why don’t you give Netanyahu a pardon?” Trump said during his over one-hour speech in the Knesset, in comments directed at Herzog. (Trump erroneously called Netanyahu “one of the great wartime presidents,” rather than referring to him as prime minister.)

Trump added, in a reference to the gifts Netanyahu allegedly received, “Who cares about cigars and champagne?” prompting murmurs and crosstalk, as well as applause, and chants of Netanyahu’s nickname, “Bibi,” in the Knesset.

In response to Trump’s suggestion, opposition Yisrael Beytenu party chair Avigdor Liberman wrote on X: “He’s right. Take a pardon and quit at your peak.”

Last month, Herzog indicated that he could grant Netanyahu a pardon in his corruption trial, saying the “case weighs heavily on Israeli society.

Trump later appeared to imply that Netanyahu may have asked him to make the plea, saying that the two had spoken about it beforehand.

“I told him I didn’t want to bring up the pardon, but it was just a perfect spot. It was good timing, wouldn’t you say?” Trump said, according to an audio recording from a press gaggle aboard Air Force One as he departed the region.

“He was getting a very good hand [round of applause], and when they stopped I said, ‘why don’t you give this guy a pardon?’ If he didn’t get a good hand, I wouldn’t have done that.”

This was not the first time that Trump has called for Netanyahu to be let off the legal hook. This summer, the US president demanded the end of Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal trial in a lengthy post on Truth Social.

“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 wrote at the time.

Trump himself has long accused his political opponents of using the US Justice Department to target him during his time out of office.

While Opposition Leader Yair Lapid called on Trump to respect Israeli sovereignty and not get involved with an internal “legal process,” members of Netanyahu’s cabinet enthusiastically welcomed Trump’s demand to completely halt the trial, dismissing the charges against the premier as political persecution of a leader they argue has saved the country from destruction.

Netanyahu is on trial in three corruption cases. He faces charges of fraud and breach of trust in Case 1000 and Case 2000, and charges of bribery, as well as fraud and breach of trust in Case 4000.

In Case 1000, he is charged with fraud and breach of trust surrounding allegations that he and his wife Sara received expensive gifts illicitly from Hollywood media mogul Arnon Milchan, worth some NIS 700,000 ($212,000), and that Netanyahu violated conflict of interest laws when he provided Milchan with assistance in renewing his long-term US residency visa and sought to help him with tax issues.

In Case 2000, the prime minister is accused of fraud and breach of trust over his alleged attempt to reach a quid pro quo agreement with the publisher of the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Arnon (Noni) Mozes, whereby Yedioth would give the prime minister more positive media coverage in exchange for legislation weakening its key rival, the Israel Hayom free sheet.

Case 4000, also known as the Bezeq-Walla case, is the most serious case the prime minister faces, in which he is accused of authorizing regulatory decisions that financially benefited Bezeq telecommunications giant shareholder Shaul Elovitch by hundreds of millions of shekels. In return, Netanyahu allegedly received favorable media coverage from the Walla news site, which Elovitch also owned.

Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing and says all the charges were fabricated in a political coup led by the police and state prosecution.

AFP and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.