Jerusalem, October 13, 2025 – In a speech laced with triumphant rhetoric and unscripted flair, U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a rousing address to Israel’s Knesset on Monday, marking the first such appearance by a sitting American president since George W. Bush in 2008. Amid celebrations over the release of the final living Israeli hostages from Gaza and the signing of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal with Hamas, Trump veered dramatically off-script to urge Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose long-running corruption trial has polarized the nation.
The moment, captured on live broadcasts worldwide, unfolded just minutes after the first batch of 20 hostages – including women, children, and elderly survivors of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack – were handed over to Red Cross officials at a southern Gaza handover point. Trump, flanked by Netanyahu and Herzog, had been extolling the virtues of his administration’s diplomatic push, crediting it with ending “two years of hell” in Gaza. But as he pivoted to praise Netanyahu as “not the easiest guy to deal with, but that’s what makes him great,” the president dropped his prepared notes and leaned into the |microphone with characteristic candor.
“Hey, I have an idea. Mr. President, why don’t you give him a pardon? Cigars and some champagne – who the hell cares?” Trump quipped, drawing a mix of laughter, applause, and stunned silence from the 120-member chamber. The remark directly alluded to Case 1000, one of three indictments against Netanyahu from 2019, in which prosecutors allege he and his wife, Sara, accepted roughly 700,000 shekels (about $210,000) in luxury gifts – including high-end cigars and bottles of champagne – from Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer. In exchange, Netanyahu is accused of using his influence to secure favorable regulations and visa extensions for the donors.
The Knesset erupted in a standing ovation from right-wing lawmakers, with some chanting Trump’s name, while left-wing members displayed signs reading “Recognize Palestine” before being swiftly ejected by security. Netanyahu, seated prominently beside Trump, offered a tight smile and polite clap, his expression betraying a flicker of unease amid the high-stakes optics. Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial but includes the constitutional power to grant pardons under “unusual circumstances,” maintained a neutral demeanor, later issuing a statement through his office emphasizing Israel’s commitment to judicial independence.
This wasn’t Trump’s first foray into Netanyahu’s legal woes. In June 2025, shortly after airstrikes escalated tensions with Iran, the U.S. president publicly demanded the trial’s cancellation on social media, calling Netanyahu a “great hero” whose prosecution was a “witch hunt” akin to his own legal battles in the United States. Monday’s intervention, however, carried unprecedented weight, delivered from Israel’s legislative heart just hours after a diplomatic breakthrough that has bolstered Netanyahu’s sagging domestic popularity.
The backdrop to Trump’s visit was nothing short of seismic. After two years of grueling conflict that claimed over 67,000 Palestinian lives and more than 1,200 Israelis in the initial Hamas assault, the Gaza war appeared to reach a fragile denouement over the weekend. Trump’s 20-point peace plan, unveiled in late September and mediated by special envoy Steve Witkoff and former advisor Jared Kushner, secured Hamas’s agreement to release all remaining living hostages – 20 in total, plus the remains of 28 deceased captives – in exchange for Israel freeing 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 others detained during the war. Israeli forces began a phased withdrawal from northern Gaza positions near Gaza City, while hundreds of aid trucks surged into the enclave for the first time in months, carrying food, medicine, and reconstruction materials.
Trump arrived at Ben Gurion Airport to a hero’s welcome, his Air Force One touching down minutes after the initial hostage releases at a Rafah crossing point. Crowds in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square erupted in cheers, with families waving American flags alongside Israeli ones. Netanyahu, in a joint statement, hailed the deal as “historic,” crediting Trump’s “pivotal leadership” while sidestepping questions on long-term governance of Gaza. The agreement, signed earlier in the day in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh by Trump, Netanyahu, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and representatives from Qatar and Turkey, outlined a multi-phase roadmap: immediate ceasefire, hostage-prisoner swaps, Israeli pullback to pre-war borders, and international oversight for Gaza’s rebuilding, involving up to 200 U.S. troops alongside forces from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the UAE – none entering Gaza proper.
Yet, even as joyous reunions played out – with one released hostage, 8-year-old Ariel Cohen, embracing his parents at Sheba Medical Center – skeptics abounded. Hamas, in a statement, demanded swift implementation of aid flows and warned against “blunt violations” like delayed prisoner releases. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz echoed the caution, noting Hamas had only returned four of 28 deceased hostages’ remains so far, vowing “appropriate answers” for non-compliance. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, from Ramallah, praised the truce but called for a “political horizon” toward statehood, a nod to the deal’s silence on broader Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the breakthrough but urged “sustained commitment” to prevent relapse, citing the “stakes have never been higher.”
Netanyahu’s corruption trial, now in its fifth year, provided a stark counterpoint to the day’s euphoria. Indicted in November 2019 on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust across three cases, the prime minister has steadfastly denied wrongdoing, framing the proceedings as a “left-wing witch-hunt” orchestrated by political foes and a biased judiciary. Case 1000 centers on the illicit gifts; Case 2000 involves alleged quid pro quo with Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes for favorable media coverage; and Case 4000 accuses Netanyahu of granting regulatory favors to Bezeq Telecom in exchange for positive posts on its Walla news site.
The trial, which kicked off in May 2020, has been a saga of delays: COVID-19 lockdowns, Netanyahu’s multiple surgeries (including prostate removal in late 2024), and the Gaza war’s demands on his time as a wartime leader. Cross-examination of Netanyahu began in June 2025, but hearings remain sporadic, with the defense citing national security priorities. Legal experts estimate a verdict could drag into 2027, fueling accusations that Netanyahu is stalling to cling to power ahead of snap elections potentially slated for early 2026. Polls show Netanyahu’s Likud party trailing rivals, though the hostage releases have spiked his approval by 15 points in recent days.
Trump’s pardon plea amplified these tensions, igniting a firestorm of reactions. Supporters, including U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, called it a “welcome development” in broader peace efforts, though Jeffries notably omitted Trump’s name. On X (formerly Twitter), conservative voices like Rep. Matt Gaetz praised the “bold alliance,” posting: “Trump just saved Bibi – and the Middle East.” Critics, however, decried it as meddling. Former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas told The Guardian that Trump’s words risked “undermining Israel’s democracy” at a vulnerable juncture. Left-leaning X users mocked the cigars quip as “tone-deaf,” with one viral post reading: “Trump just admitted Bibi’s guilty – pardon for what, exactly?”
Herzog’s pardon authority, rooted in Israel’s 1951 Basic Law, has been invoked sparingly – most notably in 2010 when President Shimon Peres declined to absolve former President Moshe Katsav on rape charges, upholding equality before the law. Legal scholars like Hebrew University’s Yifat Bitton argue Netanyahu’s case doesn’t qualify as “unusual,” lacking national security ties, unlike past pardons for spies or soldiers. Herzog, a centrist and Holocaust survivor, has historically championed judicial integrity, making a pre-verdict pardon unlikely without extraordinary pressure.
Beyond the Knesset podium, Trump’s Middle East tour underscored his vision for a “golden age” of regional stability. En route to Egypt for a summit with over two dozen Arab leaders, he touted expansions to the Abraham Accords, hinting at Iran talks and Gaza reconstruction funded by Gulf states. “Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment everything changed,” he declared, echoing lines from past presidents while settling scores with predecessors Barack Obama and Joe Biden, whom he lambasted for “weakness.” Notably, he name-checked donor Miriam Adelson in the audience, thanking her for “making this possible.”
As night fell over Jerusalem, the city’s ancient stones seemed to hum with possibility – and peril. Families reunited at hospitals, aid convoys rumbled into Gaza, and diplomats plotted next phases. Yet Trump’s offhand plea hung in the air, a reminder that personal alliances often eclipse procedural norms in geopolitics. For Netanyahu, facing both electoral headwinds and courtroom scrutiny, the gesture from his staunchest ally could prove a lifeline – or a liability, if it fuels perceptions of impunity.
The road ahead remains treacherous. Hamas’s disarmament clauses, Israel’s border security demands, and simmering Hezbollah tensions in Lebanon loom large. With Trump’s plane wheels-up for Sharm El-Sheikh – delayed by the Knesset’s prolonged applause – the world watches whether this “historic dawn” endures, or fades into another chapter of Middle East recriminations. In the words of one released hostage’s father, quoted outside the Knesset: “Peace is fragile, but today, we choose hope.”
