Shai Golden Praises Netanyahu, Then Urges Him to Quit on Air

On a June 20, 2026 broadcast on Reshet 13, commentator Shai Golden mocked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with sarcastic applause, then delivered a harsh on-air attack calling on him to step down.

Golden began by saying, “I want to stand up and applaud Netanyahu, say to him, Bibi, well done,” before showing a clip of the infamous Oval Office confrontation between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from about a year and a half earlier. He then told Netanyahu, “Do you understand you are on the way to exactly that kind of public humiliation?” and said it was only a matter of time before a U.S. president would tell him, on camera, to do what he says “and do it with love.”

Golden argued that Trump had crossed a line in his relationship with Netanyahu, pointing to the Iran agreement as proof of the shift. He said the deal was “shameful,” harmed Israel “historically,” and warned that a public humiliation in the Oval Office was “just around the corner.” He added that such humiliation would not be Netanyahu’s alone, but Israel’s as well.

In one of his sharpest lines, Golden compared Netanyahu and Trump to “Caligula” and “Napoleon,” saying their path could lead to destruction remembered by history. He concluded by telling Netanyahu to leave office: “Please, free us from your punishment for the sake of the people of Israel,” adding, “From Trump we have nothing to do. From you, yes.”