You Need to Pay Me: Graham's Call to 'Save Netanyahu'

The New York Times has revealed recordings of conversations between Netanyahu and Senator Graham in 2024, in which they coordinated a bipartisan letter to delay the arrest warrant against Netanyahu in The Hague. Graham joked that Netanyahu 'needs to pay' him for the assistance.

The New York Times has revealed recordings of phone conversations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, which took place in late October 2024. In the conversations, revealed as part of a documentary about Graham, Netanyahu is heard asking Graham to help publish a bipartisan letter from American lawmakers aimed at delaying the arrest warrant that the International Court of Justice in The Hague was about to issue against him for war crimes. Netanyahu suggested that allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct against Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan could help delay proceedings. Graham promised to garner bipartisan support and suggested that House Speaker Mike Johnson would be the perfect signatory. In another conversation that same day, Graham joked and told Netanyahu: 'You need to pay me for all this. I need to get a lot of shekels,' adding that 'it will require more than dinner.' Graham asked Netanyahu to convey messages to be included in the letter and said he had garnered support from two Democratic senators, in exchange for Netanyahu calling them and thanking them for their support of normalization with Saudi Arabia. The letter was published a few days after the conversation, with the signatures of the Democratic senators. The recordings are part of about 400 hours of documentation by director Alex Holder, who accompanied Graham for about four years as part of the project 'Lindsey's Game.'

You Need to Pay Me: Graham's Call to 'Save Netanyahu'