This week’s exchange between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump was the kind of tough, direct diplomacy Americans should admire: a phone call Monday in which the two leaders discussed relations with Syria and the broader security needs of the region, and in which Mr. Trump made clear he stands with Israel. The call underscores the unvarnished reality that strong alliances are built on forthright conversations, not weak-kneed appeasement.
Netanyahu’s decision to formally request a pardon from Israel’s president has sent the domestic political establishment into a tailspin, but patriots should see it for what it is — an effort to put national security and stability above courtroom theater. Facing long-running charges that his supporters call politically motivated, Mr. Netanyahu argues a pardon would let the country focus on real threats instead of endless partisan prosecutions.
President Trump has been vocal in his defense, even writing to Israeli President Isaac Herzog to urge clemency for a wartime leader he says deserves the chance to unify his country after years of conflict. That kind of backbone — standing up for an ally who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with America — is exactly the kind of leadership conservatives applaud.
The American president and the Israeli prime minister also used the call to hammer home a shared objective: a durable security arrangement with Syria that limits Iranian proxies and Islamist radicals from using Damascus as a springboard against Israel. Washington’s push for a demilitarized buffer and stronger lines of communication is commonsense statecraft, not naïve diplomacy.
The left and their media allies will howl about interference and throw around words like “undermining the rule of law,” but ordinary citizens know the truth: when your nation faces existential threats, leadership must be permitted to prioritize safety and peace. Conservatives should be blunt — there is no nobility in endless legal warfare while enemies regroup and families suffer.
If America wants a safer world, it must back leaders who deliver results, not those who prefer ritual indignation and moral preening. Trump’s willingness to stand for an ally, and Netanyahu’s move to seek closure so Israel can govern and defend itself effectively, represent principled, pragmatic choices that defend Western civilization and the lives of ordinary people.
Hardworking Americans should watch this drama with clear eyes: support for allies is not interference, it is responsibility. We should cheer courage and common sense in geopolitics, demand accountability from courts but never allow prosecutions to become weapons that weaken a nation in a storm.
