The Israeli opposition calls on Trump not to support Netanyahu in the upcoming elections and not to interfere in their internal affairs
Officials of Israeli opposition parties have approached US parties close to President Donald Trump to demand that he not interfere in the Israeli elections, which will be held this year, in anticipation of Trump’s support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
One of the parties that opposition party officials have addressed, is Israeli-American businesswoman Miriam Adelson, who is known for her closeness to Trump, who donated large sums of money to his election campaigns and had a significant influence on Trump in the issue of prisoner exchanges between Israel and Hamas.
Officials from Israel’s opposition parties called on Adelson and other US officials who have reached out to her to convey a message to Trump that the internal affairs of a sovereign state shouldn’t be interfered with.
Trump is trying to interfere in Netanyahu’s trial, and during a speech in the Knesset, he demanded that Israeli President Isaac Herzog issue a pardon for Netanyahu and cancel his trial on serious corruption charges, and later Trump strongly attacked Herzog for not issuing a pardon, which increased fears that such interference would continue before the general elections.
Likud party leaders are talking about a possible visit of Trump to Israel ahead of the election in order to support Netanyahu, and Trump has also been invited to the Israel Prize ceremony, which will take place on Israel’s “Independence Day” in two and a half weeks.
An opposition party official who was involved in relaying messages to people close to Trump said, “The message we are saying to the parties we spoke to isn’t to go against Netanyahu, but in general, you shouldn’t interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, and you aren’t required to express support for one candidate or another… The fact that Netanyahu and his government aren’t preventing Trump’s intervention in the issue of the amnesty is a serious violation of the sovereignty of the state and the institutions of the rule of law”.
