Responding to Trump, Yair Golan alleges hostage deal held captive to Netanyahu’s legal fate

Sam 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"

The Democrats chairman Yair Golan accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of holding the hostages in Gaza captive for political ends after US President Donald Trump appears to link the issue to that of the premier’s ongoing criminal trial.

“Trump’s proposal proves: The hostages are held by Hamas, but they are captive to Netanyahu’s interests,” Golan states in a post on X.

In a late-night post on his Truth Social platform, Trump stated that the United States was “not going to stand” for the continued prosecution of Netanyahu, whom he described as a “war hero” targeted by “out-of-control prosecutors.”

Trump argued that “this travesty of ‘justice’ will interfere with both Iran and Hamas negotiations.”

“The United States of America spends billions of dollar(s) a year, far more than on any other nation, protecting and supporting Israel,” noted Trump in what some in Israel took as an implicit threat.

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