American conservative commentator and lawyer Mark Levin told JNS on Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial is “much worse” than he thought after witnessing it firsthand.
The Fox News talk-show host came to the Tel Aviv District Court with his wife Julie to show support for the premier as he continues to testify in the long-running trial.
“I wanted to see with my own two eyes the injustice of the lawfare that has been unleashed against Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Levin told JNS.
“It was actually much worse than I thought. The level of tedious irrelevancies and absurd processes and distractions from the prime minister’s incredibly serious official duties is unconscionable,” he continued.
“There were literally 10 prosecutors sitting in that courtroom, and if there had been 1,000, they could not have fixed what is a ludicrous case.”
Levin said it was worse than U.S. President Donald Trump’s description of the legal proceedings as a “witch hunt.” The president also called it a “horror show” in calling for its cancellation on June 25.
“There is no way a trial like this would pass the fundamental standards of justice in America. This system desperately needs to be reformed,” Levin emphasized.
“The prosecutors and judges act as if there is not a life and death war going on. On top of everything else, it was bizarre,” he added.
Netanyahu is facing bribery and breach-of-trust charges in three cases, labeled 1000, 2000 and 4000. The latter is the most serious and the only one featuring bribery charges. Members of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, as well as its coalition partners and some opposition politicians, have dismissed the trial as a partisan attempt to oust the prime minister by non-democratic means.
The day after Trump’s statement, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said there should be a plea deal. The three judges overseeing the case have also reportedly urged the prosecutor’s office privately to reach a plea agreement with the prime minister, as the bribery charges may be difficult to prove.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu continues to lead Israel’s multi-front war, which began with the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, with a major operation starting on Tuesday to take control of Gaza City to deliver a decisive defeat to Hamas.
