Benjamin Netanyahu returns to Israel from the United States tired with very little achievements in hand

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned on Wednesday from a visit to the United States, where he met with President Donald Trump.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu has arrived in Israel,” the Israeli Broadcasting Authority said.

Netanyahu visited the United States to meet with the US president for the second time since Trump took office at the beginning of this year.

Israeli analysts said Netanyahu returned from the United States “empty-handed” after failing to cancel or reduce tariffs imposed by Washington on Israeli goods.

Trump’s decision to impose a 17% tariff on Israeli products has raised concerns in Tel Aviv about its impact on trade between the two sides.

A day before the decision, Tel Aviv lifted all tariffs on US goods, hoping Trump wouldn’t impose tariffs on Israeli products.

Last Wednesday, the US President announced the imposition of what he called “reciprocal” tariffs on all countries worldwide, with a minimum of 10%.

On the other hand, Netanyahu asked the Tel Aviv District Court on Wednesday to halt his trial on corruption charges due to fatigue, before the judges agreed.

The session typically lasts several hours, but Netanyahu requested an adjournment about three hours after it began.

This is the 22nd time Netanyahu has appeared in court to answer the corruption charges against him.

Netanyahu headed to the court immediately after landing at Ben Gurion International Airport, arriving from the United States, where he had met with US President Donald Trump at the White House.

Israeli Army Radio said: “Netanyahu requested the session be adjourned, and the judges agreed”.

Netanyahu’s defense attorney, Amit Hadad, was quoted as saying that his client was “exhausted after a long flight, and the court has an interest in not giving such testimony”.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that less than two hours after Netanyahu’s arrival from the United States, his testimony in court began.

A few days ago, the court refused to postpone Netanyahu’s appearance before it on Wednesday due to his travel to the United States, noting that Netanyahu repeated his denial of the accusations against him.

He was quoted as telling the court, in response to his lawyer’s question about whether he trusted Israel’s law enforcement system, “After I saw what they’re saying, and how they’re tainting the investigation and accusing me of false accusations, they’re all making false accusations”.

He added, “I feel like I’m living in East Germany or Tehran… What is this? What kind of dark regime exists here? It’s brutal”.

The court has scheduled 24 sessions for Netanyahu to respond to the corruption charges.

Netanyahu faces charges of corruption, bribery, and breach of trust in what are known as Cases 1000, 2000, and 4000. Former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit filed the indictment in late November 2019.

“Case 1000” concerns allegations that Netanyahu and members of his family received expensive gifts from wealthy businessmen in exchange for facilitating and providing assistance to these figures in various fields.

In “Case 2000,” he is accused of negotiating with Arnon Moses, publisher of the private Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, to obtain positive media coverage.

The more serious “Case 4000” concerns the alleged facilitation of favors to the former owner of the Israeli Walla news website, Shaul Elovitch, who was also an official at the Bezeq telecommunications company, in exchange for positive media coverage.

Netanyahu’s trial in these cases began in 2020 and is still ongoing.

He denies the charges, claiming they are a political campaign aimed at ousting him.