Usually Israel imports fashions from America. But sometimes the opposite happens. "The trial against Trump is an attempt at political assassination." "Others did exactly the same thing, and they weren't even investigated." "As much as Trump is being indicted, the prestige of the American justice system is at stake." "The Trump-related affairs are being inflated. Biden's scandals are being covered up by the media and the prosecution." "We are on a historic and sad day." "Is it possible for a person to run for president or serve as president while he is being tried?" "I'm in favor of pardoning him in advance and sparing America this sentence." "We have to go to a deal that includes his retirement from political life." "Everyone close to him has left him. He was left alone."
All these statements, which have been flooding Israel since the investigations against Netanyahu began, swept the American media this week. Exactly the same words, only in the exchange of names and titles. "President" instead of "Prime Minister," and "Trump" instead of "Netanyahu." Three years late, America is stepping up in a process that is tearing it apart from within. Who like us knows.
The truth is that the accusations against Trump are nevertheless far more serious than those against Netanyahu. Unlike the prime minister, this time Trump is not talking about moral misconduct, but about harming US national security. Trump is accused, no more and no less, of espionage.
What did he do? The truth is that there is really no dispute about the facts. Trump took 60 boxes of classified documents from the White House when his term ended. He kept them at his Mar-a-Lago estate, where he lives in Florida. Quite promiscuously, they were placed, among other things, in a toilet accessible to read to every guest.
When the missing documents were discovered at the Pentagon and the National Archives, he and his lawyers initially denied it, and later dragged their feet in returning them. Only an FBI raid on the mansion revealed the full extent of the smuggling.
The 49-page indictment against Trump includes 37 charges. It alleges that Trump showed the classified documents on at least two separate occasions at his New Jersey golf club to "an author and publisher, plus two people from his staff — all of whom had no permissions to see them." Allegedly, he also shared with them plans for a U.S. military attack against a country or some elements.
The enthusiastic admiration for Trump has put his opponents in an impossible position. On their show, the charges against him were supposed to take him out of the game. But just like with us, the opposite is happening there right now
"The documents Trump stored in boxes include information about the defense and nuclear capabilities of the United States and other countries, vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies during a military attack, and plans to respond to an external attack," wrote Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed to handle the Trump case. He also accuses Trump of obstructing the investigation and making a false statement.
Trump is being prosecuted by his close personal aide, Walt Nauta, who, along with the former president, allegedly committed these offenses. Analysts speculate that Nauta will later become a state witness against Trump in exchange for impunity — another scenario that seems to have been taken from the Jerusalem District Court.
With or without Nauta, for all the above reasons, the new trial against Trump is therefore dozens of times worse than the previous (horrifying in itself) times in which he was indicted. So it was about paying silence money to prostitutes or tax evasion.
For the same reasons, this time it's not just an indictment in a local court in New York, but a state (federal) lawsuit by the Central Department of Justice in Washington. And this, as they say, is already in another league.
Trump understands the magnitude of the event. In an email to millions of supporters hours after the trial began, he wrote: "Reports say I could be sentenced to 400 years in prison. I honestly can't believe I'm writing these words."
In his defense, Trump mainly claims that there was nothing wrong with his conduct, since as president, who has the authority to declassify secret documents, he was allowed to take them and do with them as he pleased. On this, the court will still have its say.
Flattering polls
In any case, one should not feel sorry for the former president. His misery is not due to fear of sentencing. The email was intended to raise money for Trump's election campaign, whose main focus is on the presidential race. Just like Netanyahu here, as far as he is concerned, this is one war on two fronts – one legal and one political.
Unlike Israel, legal proceedings in the United States do not last forever, but are decided within a few months. Even if there is an appeal, it is not expected to drag on for seven years, as is customary in our places. However, Trump faces other legal troubles, chief among them the accusation that will likely be leveled at him for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, invasion of Congress. This will be the next storm.
But none of this is stopping the former president. His train races and runs over almost everything in its path, especially his competitors for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2024 election.
Trump is regularly in the 60 percent districts — that is, getting far more than all of his competitors combined. For example, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley does not cross the five percent threshold of support among Republicans. Ditto former Vice President Mike Pence.
Since the indictment was announced, Trump's political support for the Republican base has only grown. As of the middle of this week, he had increased by another three percentage points the already huge gap between him and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis — the only one who still somehow gives Trump a fight, receiving about 30 percent support on a good day.
This passionate admiration for Donald Trump has put his opponents in the party in an impossible position. In their political plan, the legal allegations against Trump should have played a major role in getting him out of the game, either legally or by damaging his popularity. But just like with us, the opposite is happening there, too.
The broad avenues of Republican voters are actually lining behind the former president, causing quite a few members of Congress and senators to continue supporting him.
In the face of this surge, former Vice President Mike Pence, DeSantis, Haley and most of the other contenders are squirming. They don't side with their rival Trump, of course, but they also can't justify the trial against him. If they do, they will drown under the wave.
And so, Pence talks about "moving on from the Trump era and putting the 2020 election behind us." Haley is calling for a pardon of the former president, and DeSantis talks about Trump's string of political losses, which has essentially not won a campaign since the 2016 election. But his actions, which appear very serious on the face of it, they do not condemn.
It should be said that there are Republican officials who do come out head-on against Trump. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who is supposedly running for president only to warn his fellow party members about Trump. Christie, by the way, was also once an ally of Trump.
Return of the Kennedy Family
Where is all this taking us? Some scenarios are completely disturbed but certainly plausible. To understand why, you have to jump to the Democratic side for a moment. On behalf of the Democrats, the presidential candidate is, of course, incumbent President Joe Biden. Most polls show him beating Trump, but not out of love for him but out of hatred for his naughty opponent.
Biden's popularity is inversely proportional to his advanced age. Only 20 percent think "the country is going in the right direction" — a very bad figure to start an election campaign at. One of the reasons for this low rate is the repeated videos of Biden wandering his way, staring into space, or, sadly, prostrating his nose to the ground.
A weak Biden is a candidate of lack of choice. Therefore, in a precedent-setting fashion, a candidacy that in normal times would have been considered a joke, may one day be very relevant. This is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the president's nephew who was assassinated in 1963
In addition, dozens of classified documents were also found in Biden's homes and offices, apparently forgotten there over the years. The same is true of other senior officials in previous administrations. That's the reasoning, Trump claims, that he's being discriminated against in relation to others for political reasons. There is also growing daily evidence of Biden's ties to his son's shady businesses. Here, too, Republicans complain, "Why is Trump being investigated and Biden not?"
So a weak Biden is actually a candidate of no choice. Therefore, in a completely precedent-setting way, a candidacy that in normal times would have been considered a joke, may one day be very relevant. They are Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of President Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, and Robert's son, who was assassinated five years later.
Kennedy Jr. announced his candidacy for the Democratic primary and currently enjoys 15 percent support. He may be tens of percentage points behind Biden, but such a figure shows how weak the incumbent president is. Normally, Kennedy — some of whose positions are much closer to the Republican side — would receive few, if any, percentages.
Why is all this important? Because if something happens to the president, and given his fragile state, such a scenario is certainly possible, Kennedy will be there to reap the rewards. For there is no other figure on the field at all.
Vice President Kamala Harris is even less popular and appreciated than Biden. The party establishment would prefer to run someone else rather than her if Biden collapses.
At this point, all these calculations are hypothetical, but they show how unfounded Donald Trump's chances of returning to the White House are. Biden measured, literally. There is no other star in the background to step into his shoes. The arena may, therefore, be vacated by Trump.
If that happens, it means that Trump will not only be a former president accused of espionage, but perhaps even a sitting president convicted of a serious offense. This crazy scenario is so unfounded that the greatest experts are already discussing whether Trump can pardon himself.
And what does Trump say? He of course promises not to use his authority to pardon himself. Why? Of course, because "I am completely innocent. 400 years in prison sounds like something Stalin or Mao did to eliminate their opponents. But it's happening here in America.
"Communism has reached our shores. We no longer live in the land of Washington and Lincoln. For the first time in American history, the federal government has used its prosecution powers to indict the current regime's leading adversary," Trump wrote to supporters. Donation options, by the way, start at $24.
Erez Lin participated in the preparation of the article
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