In an unusual move, United States Ambassador Mike Huckabee attended Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s court hearing on Wednesday in a new step that shows President Donald Trump’s support to the Zionist premier.
“I’m going to go by today and sit through a little of it. It should be very interesting to be a witness to it,” Huckabee said, speaking at an event in Tel Aviv this morning.
Asked by an interviewer to explain the unusual decision, Huckabee references the bond between Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, who last month explicitly demanded an end to Netanyahu’s trial, describing it as a “witch hunt.”
However, Netanyahu’s hearing changed to a closed-door session due to the issue under discussion, requiring Huckabee and all other members of the viewing public, to leave.
Netanyahu, Huckabee and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, who was also present in court, had a photograph taken together in a room just outside the courtroom.
The US envoy’s move to support Netanyahu drew widespread criticism that he was interfering in Israeli internal politics.
“It’s a matter of representing what the president has said repeatedly,” Huckabee said, as quoted by The Times of Israel.
“The president has made his position very clear. He has not intervened in the proceedings or in the outcome. He recognizes that has to go its own way. But it’s a personal thing for him. He considers the prime minister a friend.”
JUST IN: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee:
I stopped by the trial of Netanyahu in Tel Aviv today. My conclusion? Trump is right…again. pic.twitter.com/27dz8gtRz0
— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) July 16, 2025
Israeli Prosecutor Yonatan Tadmor has been questioning Netanyahu on Wednesday morning about his relationship with billionaire Hollywood Arnon Milchan, and specifically the allegation that Netanyahu tried to help Milchan obtain a long-term US visa.
Milchan disclosed in 2013 that he had done clandestine work for Israeli security agencies. It is alleged that Netanyahu intervened with then-US secretary of state John Kerry to get Milchan the long-term visa he sought.
Source: Israeli media (edited by Al-Manar English Website)
