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Analysis

How Trump’s call to end Netanyahu’s trial is linked to broader Gaza deal

The coordinated effort, involving an agreement with Hamas and expansion of the Abraham Accords, also envisions a Nobel Peace Prize for Trump and a pardon for Netanyahu.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, DC, Feb. 4, 2025.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, DC, Feb. 4, 2025. — ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

TEL AVIV — President Donald Trump’s dramatic call this week to drop Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial on corruption charges is part of a grand scheme that includes disabling Iran’s nuclear program, ending the war in Gaza and roping major Muslim states into a peace circle with Israel. Several Israeli political and diplomatic sources have described the scenario to Al-Monitor in recent days.

After the end of the war with Iran, Trump in a post to his Truth Social platform on Wednesday said that Netanyahu's trial for alleged corruption, bribery and breach of trust "should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero." He described the long-running case against Netanyahu as a "witch hunt."

Coordinated move

"This move was coordinated, carefully planned, with nothing left to chance," a senior Israeli diplomatic source told Al-Monitor, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It’s part of a huge historic regional move planned by the two leaders to end the war in Gaza, release all the Israeli hostages in Gaza and put in place a provisional government there, expand the Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria and Indonesia, hand Trump the Nobel Peace Prize and obtain a pardon for Netanyahu."

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