Fox & Friends co-host Pete Hegseth described the charges being brought against Israel's Bibi Netanyahu as a "deep state" conspiracy and a 'witch hunt.'
Then Hegseth claimed Bibi was indicted for accepting a cigar. (He wasn't.)
Who knew Trump's state-sponsored propaganda team on Fox News extended to Donald's overseas friends like Netanyahu?
Vox writes that like Trump, "Netanyahu has accused investigators of leading a “witch hunt” against him and decried the “liberal” media for conspiring to undermine him."
The Israeli AG bringing the indictments was appointed by Netanyahu himself.
Brian Kilmeade asked Hegseth to explain the indictments against Trump's BFF. "Can you tell us what he is up against?" (Thanks to MM4A for the transcript)
Hegseth's bootlicking then began, "Yeah, I’ll tell you this. I had a chance to interview the prime minister. I’ve spoken to people very, very close to him and intimately involved in this process. And if you think our deep state is bad here in America, it's really bad in Israel."
"And they have not been able to beat Bibi Netanyahu at the ballot box, and so they’re trying to beat him through these trumped-up -- he calls it a witch hunt. Call it what our president calls it: trumped-up charges. What they're charging him with is, first of all, he got a cigar from a friend, which strikes me as a good thing."
"Second of all, he got positive press coverage from a website apparently due to changes in regulations. If you actually look at that website, it's been overwhelmingly negative coverage to him. This is because the deep state of Israel and the bureaucracy there hates him. They can't beat him. The people love him. They appreciate what he’s done for the state of Israel and, as a result, he will fight this and he will beat this," he said.
Earhardt asked, "He won't have to step down?"
Pete replied, "He will not have to step down, he's been a great friend to the United States of America and great for the country of Israel."
Hegseth's information comes from Netanyahu and Bibi's inner circle which is hardly impartial to say the least of what they claim are "trumped up charges."
Vox explains the charges since Fox and Friends covers them up:
Case 1000, Israeli police allege that for years, Netanyahu and his wife Sara received gifts in the form of hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of champagne, jewelry, and cigars from wealthy individuals in the United States and Australia.
In exchange, Netanyahu reportedly tried to extend tax exemption legislation that would have benefited at least one of the men involved. The new charges related to this case are fraud and breach of trust.
In the second case, known as Case 2000, one of Netanyahu’s aides recorded lengthy conversations between the prime minister and the head of Yedioth Ahronoth, one of Israel’s largest papers, in which they discussed a deal making the paper less critical of Netanyahu.
In return, the prime minister would stop the weekend publication of the paper’s commercial rival, Israel Today, which is owned by US casino magnate Sheldon Adelson (which is sometimes known in Israel as the “Bibi paper” for its pro-Netanyahu stance).
The deal apparently was never settled, but the conversations in themselves were damning enough. The charges in this case are breach of trust and fraud.
The third and most recent case against the prime minister is known as Case 4000, and experts agree that this is the most damning.
On December 2, Israeli police accused Netanyahu of trading regulatory favors for positive media coverage of himself and his family. Over a period of five years, the prime minister reportedly intervened in the day-to-day coverage and affairs of Walla, a news website run by the country’s telecommunications company, Bezeq.
In return, Netanyahu — in his role as minister of communications, which is one of his titles — allegedly rewarded the company by using his political power to give them more favorable regulations, despite political opposition. The charges related to this case are bribery and breach of trust.In exchange, Netanyahu reportedly tried to extend tax exemption legislation that would have benefited at least one of the men involved. The new charges related to this case are fraud and breach of trust.
That's hardly just a cigar.
