Netanyahu decries his graft trial as ‘political’ in English video, amid push for pardon
PM claims prosecutors ‘are not interested in justice, they are interested in getting me out of office’; Trump shares article about premier’s request for pardon from Herzog
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday charged that his ongoing corruption trial is “political,” in an English-language video released as he campaigns for President Isaac Herzog to dismiss the criminal indictments against him.
In the clip, which he published on his personal social media accounts, Netanyahu stated he was standing trial for “receiving favorable coverage from a second-rate internet site,” referring to so-called Case 4000, 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 Bezeq-owned Walla news site.
Netanyahu noted that the judges overseeing the trial recommended in 2023 that prosecutors drop the bribery charge, which they declined. The premier is also charged with fraud and breach of trust in the case, one of three for which he is standing trial.
“It’s a political trial. They [the prosecutors] are not interested in justice; they are interested in getting me out of office,” he claimed.
The prime minister then turned to Case 1000, which he dismissed as “absurd.” Netanyahu is charged with fraud and breach of trust in the case for accepting luxury gifts worth hundreds of thousands of shekels from Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer. The indictment alleges that Netanyahu performed various favors and provided assistance to Milchan in return.
“From now on this trial will be known as the Bugs Bunny trial,” Netanyahu said of the case, referring to a toy Milchan bought for the prime minister’s son.
I want to share something with you >> pic.twitter.com/cLFxWI6igh
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) December 4, 2025
Netanyahu did not address Case 2000, in which he is accused of fraud and breach of trust for allegedly having tried to reach an unlawful agreement with the publisher of the Yedioth Aharonoth newspaper, Arnon Mozes, for the outlet to improve its coverage of him in return for legislation to weaken its rival paper, Israel Hayom.
“I have to go three times a week, eight hours per day, to discuss this nonsense,” Netanyahu said in the video about his court appearances. “It’s funny, it’s comedic. I was a champion debater in my high school, so yeah, it’s a farce.”
“But this farce is costing the country a lot. There are big things to do… I can’t deal with that,” he added, explaining his decision to ask for a pardon.
US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, shared an article from a week earlier about Netanyahu’s formal request for a pardon from Herzog, which did not include an admission of guilt. The post on Truth Social was one of dozens that Trump published over a span of several hours on Thursday.
Trump has weighed in on Netanyahu’s trial several times on the prime minister’s behalf, dismissing the cases against the premier.
In a speech before the Knesset in October, Trump appealed directly to Herzog and urged him to pardon Netanyahu.
Last month, he made the request more formally in a letter to Herzog.
In a call earlier this week, Netanyahu reportedly asked Trump if he could do more, even though US officials are said to believe that the president has done all he can at this point.
The Times of Israel Community.