From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Outside court, Ben Gvir calls on Trump to intervene and end Netanyahu’s corruption trial
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Addressing the press outside the courtroom in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls on US President Donald Trump to intervene and halt what he describes as a “farce” that interferes with the premier’s ability to do his job.
“I want to say one thing clearly about this farce called the Netanyahu trial: I think it’s crazy that the prime minister has to deal with meetings at night until 2 a.m., I sit there with him and then when I tell him let’s go home – he tells me no, I’m going to prepare for the trial,” Ben Gvir declares.
“It’s crazy, it’s not normal. I hope President Trump will put an end to this farce. President Trump should intervene and put an end to this abuse of the prime minister.”
Trump has repeatedly called on President Isaac Herzog to pardon Netanyahu, including during his October 2025 Knesset address and in a letter to Herzog the following month, drawing criticism for interfering in Israel’s internal legal proceedings.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, Herzog said he has “made clear numerous times” that Netanyahu’s pardon request “has to go through a certain procedure.”
“Right now, the request has to go through the procedure of collecting various opinions by the relevant agencies in the Ministry of Justice,” he told Fareed Zakaria. “I cannot violate that, because of course I have to operate according to the rules.”
“I respect President Trump tremendously,” says Herzog, “and of course we have our own legal system and I will operate within its [bounds].”
The Times of Israel Community.