Supreme Court chief, AG weren’t invited to Trump speech; Trump: I’d told PM I didn’t want to bring up the pardon

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana did not invite Supreme Court President Isaac Amit or Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to US President Donald Trump’s speech to the Knesset on Monday in which the American leader celebrated the return of the hostages from Gaza and told Israel it won the war against Hamas.

The move came as the government is seeking to fire Baharav-Miara and Justice Minister Yariv Levin refuses to recognize Amit’s authority as chief justice, with the coalition continuing to push to curb the powers of the courts as part of its judicial overhaul plans.

Knesset sources were quoted by the Haaretz daily as saying that Trump’s speech was not considered an official state event and therefore the pair were not invited, though other similarly high-ranking officials such as State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion were invited.

There was no official comment from Ohana’s office on his decision not to extend invitations to Amit and Baharav-Miara.

“This despicable boycott is not only against Chief Justice Amit, a symbol of authority, but rather against the entire judicial branch and in effect Israeli democracy,” said Amit Becher, head of the Israel Bar Association, which the government has also sought to strip powers from.

“This is a painful reminder that the plan to destroy Zionist and democratic Israel has not stopped for a moment under [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s leadership, and the words in speech about ‘the time for peace among us” are empty of content,” added Becher.

Meanwhile, Trump said later Monday that he had told Netanyahu before his Knesset speech that he did want to call for him to be pardoned, but decided to do so in the moment. The premier was indicted close to six years ago on corruption charges, which he denies, and both Levin and Netanyahu’s critics have linked his ongoing criminal trial with the effort to overhaul the judiciary.

Asked by a reporter on Air Force One as he flew home from Egypt whether he had told Netanyahu “beforehand that you were going to go off script,” Trump replied: “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?”

“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.”