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Israel on the Legal Battlefield
Lawfare—using litigation to upend political leaders and causes—is suddenly prominent in both the United States and Israel. Indeed, the current corruption trial in Tel Aviv involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is cut from the same cloth as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s bid to upend Donald Trump’s presidential aspirations. Both men face charges for events that took place years ago and were at worst minor sideshows. Bragg inflated charges of corruption out of Donald Trump’s alleged 2016 hush-money payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had a one-night stand with Trump back in 2006. Netanyahu is charged with accepting champagne, cigars, and other gifts between 2011 and 2016 from Arnon Milchan, an Israeli Hollywood film producer, and from James Packer, an Australian billionaire, while angling to get better press coverage of his political fortunes.
Trump, when charged, was in the midst of a presidential campaign. Netanyahu now must take time off from his day job of running a country and military to resist a deeply political legal attack, which could undermine his legitimacy both at home and abroad.