Former High Court Head Backs Dropping Netanyahu Trial After Trump Says Case Should be Dismissed

Aharon Barak, the influential former president of Israel’s Supreme Court, has publicly expressed support for ending the criminal trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu through either a plea bargain or a pardon. His comments, made in the wake of a call from U.S. President Donald Trump to drop the case, have reignited a fierce debate over the long-running legal saga.

“I’m in favor of an agreement with Netanyahu. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a pardon or a plea bargain,” Barak told the Mekor Rishon newspaper on Thursday. “The most important thing is that we come to an agreement. It can bring about calm.”
The retired justice added, “If it were up to me, I would make an effort to come to an agreement.”

Barak’s intervention follows a statement from President Trump, who labeled the premier’s trial a “ridiculous Witch Hunt” and called for it to be “CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY.”

While Barak endorsed a resolution to the trial, he described the American president’s direct intervention in Israel’s legal affairs as “very troubling.”

This is not the first time Barak has advocated for a deal. He previously acted as a mediator in plea bargain negotiations between Netanyahu and former Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit, an effort that ultimately failed after the prime minister rejected the proposed terms.

The re-emergence of the debate drew a sharp reaction from the head of the Israel Bar Association, Amit Becher, who warned of serious legal consequences if there was coordination between the prime minister and the U.S. president.

“If Trump’s tweet in favor of stopping Netanyahu’s trial was coordinated with the prime minister, as the media has reported, then it’s a criminal offense,” Becher stated, according to a report by the Walla news site. He argued that such an act would constitute illegal interference in a live trial and an attempt to improperly influence the judges and prosecutors.