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Israeli cabinet to meet again as Netanyahu predicts ‘dramatic’ week
The Israeli Security Cabinet couldn’t agree on what to do next in Gaza. The meeting on Sunday evening happened after Donald Trump called for Israel to adopt the ceasefire to get the Israeli captives out.
But he also, in the same post, lobbied for the corruption charges against the Israeli prime minister to be dropped. He called him a “war hero” and said these charges are political – that they shouldn’t continue.
That is seen by many observers as a way to reward Netanyahu for what comes next, a preemptive move, if you will, from the American president. There’s a lot of speculation about where that will take Israel and the judicial process against him.
But for now, Netanyahu gained one week of no hearings because he told the courts in a closed session that the coming week will be “dramatic” for Israel – politically and on the front of national security.
A follow-up meeting of the Security Cabinet is scheduled to convene on Monday, and no doubt the issue of ending the war on Gaza – at least reaching a temporary ceasefire – will top the agenda.
‘Unprecedented’: Trump intervention into Israel’s legal system
Gideon Levy, an Israeli author and Haaretz columnist, has expressed dismay at the “unbelievable” intervention of US President Trump in the corruption trial of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
“He really recruited himself, or Netanyahu recruited him, to help make the court cancel [the charges]. This is really unprecedented and there’s no other explanation other than to be astonished,” Levy told Al Jazeera.
“That the president of the United States dares to interfere in the legal procedure in another country – this we never saw before.”
At the weekend, Trump launched a scathing attack on Israeli prosecutors over Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial, calling it “insanity” and linking Washington’s financial support to the proceedings. “The United States of America spends billions of dollars a year… protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to stand for this,” he wrote on social media.
