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The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his shock and relief this Sunday following the assassination attempt against President Donald Trump that took place on Saturday night in Washington D.C., during the Annual White House Correspondents' Dinner.
In a thread of two messages posted at 8:36 a.m. from the official account @IsraeliPM, Netanyahu stated: "Sara and I were shocked by the assassination attempt on President Trump last night in Washington D.C. We are relieved that the president and the first lady are safe and strong."
In a second message, the Israeli Prime Minister added: "We send our wishes for a swift and complete recovery to the injured police officer and commend the United States Secret Service for their quick and decisive action."
The attack occurred on Saturday around 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, when the assailant, identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31 years old and from Torrance, California, burst in armed with a shotgun, a pistol, and several knives in the lobby of the Washington Hilton.
Allen opened fire at a security checkpoint before being subdued and arrested by the Secret Service, without gaining access to the main hall where approximately 2,600 people were present, including Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other high-ranking officials of the administration.
A Secret Service agent was lightly injured, protected by their bulletproof vest. There were no fatalities among the event attendees.
Trump was immediately evacuated from the podium. Minutes later, he posted on Truth Social praising the "quick and brave" actions of the Secret Service, and early Sunday morning he held a press conference from the White House in which he urged Americans to "resolve their differences" and emphasized the bipartisan unity in the room during the incident.
The federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, announced charges against Allen for using a firearm in a violent crime and for assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon. The director of the Secret Service, Sean Curren, confirmed that the suspect acted alone and defended the effectiveness of the multilayered protection system deployed at the event.
This is the third documented assassination attempt against Trump in less than two years. The first occurred on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a bullet grazed his right ear and a spectator was killed; the second, on September 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida, where agents neutralized an armed man with an assault rifle near his golf club.
Netanyahu's statement comes at a time of particular closeness between Israel and the United States. Trump mediated a historic ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon announced on April 16, which was extended for an additional three weeks on April 23, in what Netanyahu has described as an unprecedented diplomatic achievement in decades.
In addition to the thread on social media, Netanyahu released a video this Sunday in which he condemned the attack as an attempt to "murder American democracy," joining the wave of international condemnations from leaders such as Narendra Modi, Emmanuel Macron, Giorgia Meloni, and Pope Francis.
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