Trump orders Israel to pardon Netanyahu or risk peace plan unravelling

 

Donald Trump has ordered Israel to pardon Benjamin Netanyahu to avoid the Middle East peace process unravelling.

Describing the prosecution as “political” and “unjustified”, the US president said pardoning the veteran prime minister would allow Israel to unite.

Mr Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 for breach of trust, accepting bribes and fraud.

The prime minister’s reforms limiting the power of the judiciary are said to be motivated by his criminal charges.

The prosecution also revealed deep splits in Israeli society, provoking rolling protests in the months before the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

The current trial at the Tel Aviv District Court is progressing extremely slowly due to regular requests for absence by Mr Netanyahu’s team for their client to attend to official duties.

It is rare for foreign leaders to interfere in the internal criminal proceedings of other countries.

However, Mr Trump – a long-time ally of Mr Netanyahu – strongly identifies with political leaders who have faced prosecution, given his own legal challenges in the years between his administrations.

In a formal letter to president Isaac Herzog, Mr Trump writes: 

“As the Great State of Israel and the amazing Jewish People move past the terribly difficult times of thee last three years, I hereby call on you to fully pardon Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a formidable and decisive War Time Prime Minister, and is now leading Israel into a time of peace, which includes my continued work with key Middle East Leaders to add many additional countries to the world changing Abraham Accords.”

He adds: “Prime Minister Netanyahu has stood tall for Israel in the face of strong adversaries and long odds, and his attention cannot be unnecessarily diverted.”

While stressing that he respected the independence of Israel’s judiciary, he described the charges as politically motivated.

On a visit to Israel in October to mark the ceasefire and return of the hostages, Mr Trump suggested, in a whimsical manner, to Mr Herzog that he should pardon the prime minister during a freewheeling address to the Senate.

He later told reporters that he had not planned to make the intervention but had changed his mind when he felt support in the chamber for Mr Netanyahu, describing the intervention as “a little risqué”.

There is a growing political movement against the charges on the Right of Israeli politics.

A new piece of legislation has been proposed that would enable ministers to halt the prosecution and make it harder for Mr Netanyahu’s leading opponents to stand in next year’s election.

Although Mr Herzog built his political career in the Labor Party, he is one of the few leading figures in Israeli politics with whom Mr Netanyahu has not publicly fought or conducted a lengthy feud.

As president, he is the one person capable of quashing a criminal conviction.

Opponents of Mr Netanyahu argue that, due to the pared-back schedule of the trial, it does not materially hinder his ability to govern.

Were he to be convicted, that would inevitably trigger a political crisis that could potentially slow diplomatic advances with Arab neighbors.

However, some analysts believe that some Arab leaders, such as those in Saudi Arabia and Syria, would prefer to wait for Mr Netanyahu to leave office before normalizing relations with Israel, due to his controversial handling of the war in Gaza.

According to a report by Reuters, talks are currently in “deadlock” over how to handle the issue of Hamas disarmament and a future peacekeeping force for the Strip.

Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law and a key broker of the current peace, met with an anti-Hamas clan leader, Yasser Abu Shabab, during his recent trip to Israel, it has been reported.

Accused of being involved in organized crime, which he denies, Abu Shabab is one of a handful of clan bosses who have openly defied the terror group.

American officials are reportedly considering using their model of armed protection for families who want to move away from Hamas and methods of food distribution, as a model for humanitarian zones on the IDF side of the ceasefire line.

Toxic Dems Schumer, Pelosi get shut down – and Trump stands tall with one of his biggest DC wins

 

The collapse of Chuck Schumer’s shutdown gambit when seven fellow Democrats and one independent broke ranks with him serves as a humiliating bookend to the longest government closure ever.

It also simultaneously highlights one of President Trump’s most sweeping and crucial Washington victories over his most toxic opponents.

Ever since his first election in 2016, Trump has been thwarted, tormented, impeached and mocked by Schumer and former Dem House leader Nancy Pelosi.

And now he has turned the tables on them in devastating fashion, with Schumer likely to be dethroned as Senate minority leader and Pelosi packing her money bags to leave Washington for good.

They fancied themselves the ultimate gatekeepers and, backed by leftist media, never stopped trying to gut Trump’s presidency and neuter his powers.

They acted as if he were some illegitimate interloper who had no right to the office and the full authority of the presidency.

Why a U.S. Military Base inside Israel is bad for both countries

 by Stephen M. Flatow

Reports say the United States is preparing to build a $500 million military base in southern Israel, near the Gaza border, to house thousands of foreign troops who will “stabilize” the Strip and enforce the ceasefire.

On paper, it may look like a bold move toward long-term security. In reality, it is a dangerous shift that undermines Israel’s sovereignty, hurts America’s credibility, and hands a political victory to the terrorists and their sponsors who just lost a war.

For decades, Israel and the United States have shared a rare and valuable principle: no foreign troops on Israeli soil. The IDF defends Israel, not NATO, not the United Nations, and not international coalitions. That rule has protected Israel’s independence and protected the United States from becoming militarily entangled in Israel’s battles.

Israel Considers Exile of Hamas Terrorists Trapped In Tunnel, But No Country Wants Them

 

In a potential breakthrough, US President Trump’s adviser Jared Kushner and Prime Minister Netanyahu reached a tentative agreement to allow the exile of approximately 100-200 Hamas terrorists currently entrenched in Rafah tunnels along the Israeli side of the Yellow Line. A security cabinet member told Ynet that while the compromise was discussed, the plan has yet to move forward.

The main obstacle remains: no country has yet agreed to accept the Hamas fighters, halting progress on the proposal. The Prime Minister’s Office has yet to respond to requests for comment.

Netanyahu’s office has consistently maintained that it would not grant safe passage to Hamas fighters, casting doubt on the likelihood of this plan advancing in the near future.

After Brutal Torture and 2.5 Years of Captivity, Israeli-Russian Researcher Is Grateful to Survive

DIN: I sure hope she learned her lesson as she was a vehement opponent of the State of Israel and was a leftist-Arab lover! 

 Ta’aliq — “to hang” in Arabic — is Iraqi slang for a torture technique that hoists victims into the air, their hands handcuffed above their heads. Akrab, or “scorpion,” is the more painful version, in which the victim’s hands are handcuffed together behind their back.

Elizabeth Tsurkov experienced both, and other excruciating torture, during 2 1/2 years held captive in Iraq by an Iranian-backed militia.

The 38-year-old Israeli-Russian doctoral student at Princeton, who speaks fluent Arabic and has researched the Middle East for over a decade, was studying social political movements in Iraq in March 2023 when she was forced into an SUV, blindfolded, sexually assaulted and beaten, then taken to a torture facility on the outskirts of Baghdad.

Her release in September was announced by President Donald Trump.

Now she is recovering in Israel as Iraqis head to the polls Tuesday for a parliamentary election that includes candidates linked to the militia Tsurkov says kidnapped her, Kataib Hezbollah.

A $600 million ransom demanded
Israelis are prohibited by law from traveling to Iraq, which Israel classifies as an “enemy country.”

In an interview with The Associated Press, Tsurkov said she knew the risks but thought she took sufficient precautions, entering on her Russian passport and avoiding contact with militias. She hadn’t counted on Kataib Hezbollah’s deep penetration of activist circles in Baghdad.

She said her captors didn’t know she was Israeli at first. She believes they kidnapped her to try to get a large ransom for a foreigner. While Kataib Hezbollah has never publicly claimed her kidnapping, it has released social media statements that include fake information she gave during torture, a sign of its involvement.

Israeli Chief Rabbi Secures Divorce After 12 Years of Agunah Status During Visit to Argentina

  Chief Rabbi of Israel and President of the Great Rabbinical Court, Rabbi David Yosef, successfully facilitated a divorce for a woman whose husband had refused to grant her a get for approximately 12 years, during his current visit to Argentina.

Rabbi Yosef was approached by local Jewish community rabbis seeking his intervention. Despite a tightly packed official schedule, he postponed a planned ceremonial visit to meet directly with the recalcitrant husband.

The rabbi spent several hours in intensive discussion, personally urging the husband to grant the divorce. His aides, recognizing the meeting was extending beyond the planned time, adjusted the rest of his itinerary to allow the critical conversation to continue.

By the following day, the husband relented. A sofer (scribe) was summoned, and the get was formally given, freeing the woman from her decades-long agunah status. Rabbi Yosef returned the next day to meet the husband again, offering guidance and blessings. Sources described the event as a “miracle and heavenly assistance” (nes ve-siyata dishmaya), highlighting the rabbi’s personal dedication.

Ynet News reports that this case reflects Rabbi Yosef’s ongoing approach as President of the Great Rabbinical Court, emphasizing personal negotiation and hands-on involvement to combat the phenomenon of agunot and secure freedom for women trapped in forced marriages.

Rabbi Yosef has a history of personally resolving high-profile cases, including traveling to prisons to persuade husbands to grant divorces or attending court sessions unexpectedly to confront abusive refusers, consistently achieving successful outcomes for agunahs.

Self-Hating Jew the Belzer Chusid Jacob Kornbluh Says That Mamzerani is "not a Jihadists, not a communist and not a dangerous antisemite"

Addressing the Zionist Organization of America gala, Rep. Elise Stefanik calls Mamdani a “dangerous antisemite,” a “jihadist,” “communist,” “who openly traffics in sympathy for those who chant globalize the intifada.”

He’s not. pic.twitter.com/GY76THGSDJ

— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) November 10, 2025

 Jacob Kornbluh  defended New York City Mayor-elect  Mamdani, when Rep. Elise Stefanik described him at the Zionist Organization of America gala Sunday night in New York as a “dangerous antisemite,” “jihadist,” and “communist.”

Kornbluh, a political reporter, posted on X that Mamdani “is not” any of those things, prompting Loeb, founder of Third Point LLC and a major donor to pro-Israel causes, to respond sharply:

 “The capacity of certain Jewish individuals for self-hatred no longer surprises me. "

US to build large military base near Gaza border

 

The United States is advancing a plan to build a large military base in the Gaza envelope, the Shomrim news website reported, citing Israeli officials who were exposed to the plan.

According to the report, the base is intended to be used by the international forces who will operate in the Gaza Strip to enforce the ceasefire and is expected to house thousands of servicemembers.

The cost of construction is estimated at half a billion dollars, and the Americans have begun examining possible locations in the area for the base. The initiative is being advanced in cooperation with the Government of Israel and the IDF.

At the moment, the US military presence in Israel is relatively limited, consisting of 200 soldiers operating out of the US Central Command Civil Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Kiryat Gat.

However, according to reports, the CMCC is expected to take full control of the humanitarian aid distribution system in Gaza, a process that was previously carried out under Israeli supervision.

The Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories' (COGAT) role is expected to be significantly limited.

Mark Levin Explodes on Tucker Carlson: “You’re a Nazi Promoter, a Modern-Day David Duke”

 

Conservative firebrand Mark Levin unloaded on former Fox News colleague Tucker Carlson in a blistering on-air rant Friday, calling him a “Nazi promoter” and a “modern-day David Duke” after Carlson invited him to a public debate at an upcoming Turning Point USA event.

Levin revealed the text exchange during The Mark Levin Show, reading what he described as a “verbatim” transcript of their conversation. The veteran radio host said Carlson reached out earlier in the day to propose a face-to-face debate in December — an offer Levin rejected outright.

“I’d rather debate a skunk,” Levin said. “My family and I want nothing to do with you [and] what you’ve become — your vile libels against my faith, millions of Christians, and in my view, what you seek to do to our country. There’s nothing to debate. You’re a Nazi promoter. You’re the modern-day David Duke.”

Levin then blasted Carlson’s recent decision to host extremist Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist and Holocaust denier, on his show. “What would Charlie [Kirk] say? What would Rush [Limbaugh] say?” Levin asked rhetorically, referring to the Turning Point USA founder and his late mentor. “Charlie Kirk would be sickened.”

According to Levin, Carlson responded to the rejection within minutes.

“For the record, I’m strongly anti-Nazi,” Carlson allegedly wrote. “But that’s hardly the point. This seems like the perfect opportunity to rebut what you consider evil ideas, and to do it to my face like a man. I think you’d jump at the chance, assuming you believe your positions are defensible. I’m offering the marketplace of ideas you often talk about — is it possible you can’t really defend, for example, what Israel has done to civilians in Gaza?”

Levin said he replied that Carlson was not feared, but “despised.”

Carlson’s final message, according to Levin, was brief and cutting: “Well, you’re a coward. If you change your mind, I’m here. Thanks.”

That set Levin off. “He’s a little bastard,” Levin fumed. “He’s attacked my stepson — who is serving honorably as a senior advisor to Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel. This guy has no shame.”

Later in the broadcast, Levin accused Carlson of committing an “unspeakable betrayal” against Turning Point USA and its founder, Charlie Kirk, by platforming Fuentes, whom Levin described as “Kirk’s enemy.”

“It’s not about free speech,” Levin said. “You could be heard by millions. This is about decency. Tucker has figured out that the more disgusting, heinous, racist, bigoted, antisemitic, anti-American things he can say, the better it is for his video podcast. He’s chasing outrage for profit.”

The remarks mark the latest in a growing feud between the two right-wing figures, once aligned under Fox News’ conservative banner. Their relationship soured following Carlson’s ouster from Fox in 2023, with Levin repeatedly criticizing Carlson’s post-network ventures — including The Tucker Carlson Show and his controversial interviews with foreign leaders and fringe figures.

Levin ended his broadcast with a final parting shot: “Tucker Carlson has betrayed every value he once claimed to hold. This isn’t journalism. It’s poison — and I want nothing to do with it.”

Netanyahu’s Cases Disintegrating, Yet the Man Behind Israel’s Judicial Coup wants him to cop a plea!

 

In another episode from the judiciary system in Chelm, former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak, who is the man behind the unchecked powers of the Israeli judiciary system, claimed on Sunday that Israel is on a slippery slope toward becoming a “dictatorship.”

He also made a veiled threat toward Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, saying that soon it will be “too late for a plea deal, when even I will think it’s too late.” His remark comes after earthshaking developments in the trial, with the cases against the prime minister continuing to collapse.

Barak has previously made behind-the-scenes efforts to end Netanyahu’s trial and reach a plea deal. However, Barak’s demands (that the plea include a charge of moral turpitude and that Netanyahu retire from politics) are especially absurd as the cases fall apart one by one, and top investigators are even arrested.

Most recently, the testimony of Lt. Col. (res.) Tsahi Habkin, currently underway, has sparked major public uproar in Israel.

Just last week, Habkin testified that the highest-ranking police investigators assigned to the cases forged, lied, tampered with evidence, perjured themselves, and committed a long list of extremely serious criminal offenses.

Habkin testified that then-Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit authorized only one specific investigative action regarding billionaire James Packer and Yair Netanyahu, but the police investigators expanded the investigation on their own—without legal approval.

In addition, a senior police officer (with the rank of Assistant Commissioner) who led the investigations against Netanyahu allegedly instructed investigators to obstruct the investigation.

Channel 14 journalist Yinon Magal provided a transcript of parts of Habkin’s testimony, entitled “The Comedy Of The Netanyahu Trial.”