No, Netanyahu wasn’t behind Trump’s tongue-lashing of Herzog
Casting aspersions on the prime minister’s trip to Washington is par for the “anybody but Bibi” propagandists.
By Ruthie Blum
JNS
Feb 16, 2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb 11, 2026
Those who claim that Benjamin Netanyahu pushed Donald Trump to rant against Isaac Herzog either haven’t been paying attention to the personalities of the U.S. president and Israeli prime minister, or are simply engaging in typical “anybody but Bibi” propaganda.
Here, a recap of the event in question—which caused the anti-Netanyahu punditry to salivate with self-satisfied outrage—is in order.
Less than a week after negotiations took place in Oman on Feb. 6 between representatives of the American administration and the Islamic Republic, Netanyahu paid an urgent visit to the White House.
The talks had ended without a resolution, as Tehran was adamant that if a deal were to be reached with Washington, it would focus solely on Iran’s nuclear program. Nevertheless, the sides agreed to resume dialogue in the near future—the date now set for Feb. 17 in Geneva.
Netanyahu’s whirlwind trip to D.C. was a direct result of the above. Though the two leaders didn’t issue a joint statement at the conclusion of their closed-door, three-hour meeting, Netanyahu addressed reporters the following morning—on Feb. 12—before boarding the “Wings of Zion” plane to return home.
“I have just concluded a short but important visit to Washington, in talks with our great friend President Trump. We have a very close relationship, very genuine and very open,” he said in Hebrew. “Of course, the discussions focused on a number of issues, but essentially on the negotiations with Iran. The president … wanted to hear my opinion. I won’t hide from you that I expressed general skepticism about the value of any agreement with Iran. But I said that if an agreement is indeed reached, it must include elements that are very important from … Israel’s standpoint, and, in my view, not only Israel’s.”
He went on, “It’s not just the nuclear issue; it’s also the ballistic missiles and the Iranian proxies. That essentially exhausted the conversation … though, of course, it also touched on Gaza, the region as a whole and other general matters.”
Finally, he said, “In any case, it was another conversation with a tremendous friend of the State of Israel, the likes of which we haven’t ever had.”
Hours later, Trump gave a press conference that caused Netanyahu’s detractors to perk up with glee. But not because the U.S. president said something negative about his Israeli counterpart. On the contrary, what he did was to launch into a tirade against Herzog.
“I think that man should be ashamed of himself [for not issuing Netanyahu a] pardon over this trial that’s going on,” he said. “The president of Israel, the primary power he’s got is the power to give pardons. You know, he said he’s given it five times. Five different times, but he doesn’t want to do it. Because I guess he loses his power. I think the people of Israel should really shame him. He’s disgraceful for not giving it. He should give it.”
This was in reference to Netanyahu’s court cases for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, which not only have been going on for six years and counting, but are falling apart with each witness who takes the stand.
Herzog was informed of Trump’s remarks while en route to Israel after a four-day trip to Australia. During the flight, he and his advisers formulated a written response.
“Only upon completion of that process will President Herzog consider the request in accordance with the law, the best interests of the State of Israel, guided by his conscience, and without any influence from external or internal pressures of any kind,” read the reply released by his office. “President Herzog deeply appreciates President Trump for his significant contribution to the State of Israel and its security. Israel is a sovereign state governed by the rule of law.”
This was the second time that Herzog was blindsided by Trump. The first occurred during the latter’s speech to the Knesset on Oct. 13, 2025.
“Hey, I have an idea, Mr. President,” Trump blurted out, off script. “Why don’t you give [Netanyahu] a pardon? … [I]t just seems to make so much sense. You know, whether we like it or not, [Netanyahu] has been one of the greatest wartime [prime ministers]. And cigars and champagne—who the hell cares about that, right?”
The next month, on Nov. 12, 2025, Trump sent a letter to Herzog requesting a full pardon for Netanyahu—who “has stood tall for Israel in the face of strong adversaries and long odds”—on the grounds that “his attention cannot be unnecessarily diverted.”
Trump explained that, while he respects the independence and requirements of the Israeli judicial system, he believes that the case against Netanyahu is a “political, unjustified prosecution.”
Herzog’s office answered with the following statement: “President Herzog holds President Trump in the highest regard and continues to express his deep appreciation for President Trump’s unwavering support for Israel, his tremendous contribution to the return of the hostages, to reshaping the situation in the Middle East and Gaza especially, and to ensuring the security of the State of Israel. Alongside and not withstanding this, as the Office of the President has made clear throughout, anyone seeking a Presidential pardon must submit a formal request in accordance with the established procedures.”
This spurred Netanyahu—who has insisted all along that he would prefer to see the trial through to the end and be acquitted on all charges—to do just that, on Nov. 30, 2025.
Since then, Herzog has been reviewing, mulling and considering the request before deciding how to rule on it. And though it’s Netanyahu who’s been spending up to three days a week in court, it’s Trump whose patience with the process is wearing thin.
Which brings us to the current brouhaha stirred by the U.S. president’s having put Herzog on the spot, yet again, in what could be called a typically “Trumpy” way. Or, to invoke a recent barb aimed by Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman at The Democrats Party head Yair Golan: “There’s no coordination between his head and his mouth.”
It’s therefore understandable for Herzog to be nonplussed, if not incensed. Insinuating that Bibi was behind Trump’s tongue-lashing, however, is inexcusable.
But that’s just what a “source close to Herzog” did on Feb. 14, at the close of Shabbat.
“If Netanyahu had a hand in this, it is a red line that has been crossed,” the anonymous source told the Hebrew media. “We expect clarification on the part of the prime minister.”
A different “source”—this one in the Prime Minister’s Office—asserted that Trump’s comments about Herzog had been “entirely of his own initiative,” adding that Netanyahu had “learned about [them] from the media and had no prior knowledge of [them], just as he had no prior knowledge of the president’s remarks on this issue in his speech in the Knesset.”
Familiarity with the figures involved is sufficient to realize that Trump doesn’t take orders; he’s nobody’s ventriloquist dummy.
And Netanyahu wouldn’t have wasted precious breath on such a matter under the current circumstances. Certainly not while facing a potential military strike—with or without the United States—on or from the Islamic Republic.
This didn’t prevent the likes of the left-wing Haaretz newspaper, as well as the talking heads on Israel’s similarly bent TV channels, from suggesting that getting Trump to pressure Herzog for a pardon was the real reason for Netanyahu’s sudden trans-Atlantic sojourn.
To use Trump’s word, “shame” doesn’t begin to describe what they should be feeling.
