Overview

• U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee surprised observers at Netanyahu’s corruption trial by publicly endorsing President Trump’s characterization of the case as a “witch hunt.”
• Court officials removed Huckabee from the Tel Aviv District Court when proceedings shifted behind closed doors.
• Earlier in the week, Huckabee condemned the killing of Palestinian-American Sayfullah Musallet as a “criminal and terrorist act” and called on Israeli authorities to launch an aggressive investigation.
• His phone call to Musallet’s father was the first outreach by a senior Trump administration official since the West Bank settler attack.
• The ambassador’s actions mark an unprecedented diplomatic intervention in Israel’s judiciary and underscore Washington’s close policy alignment with the president.