US President Donald Trump officially requested a pardon for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the three corruption cases filed against him. His Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzog, reported on Wednesday that the US President sent him a letter in which he expressed his “respect” for the judicial system in the Jewish state, but he gave wings to Netanyahu’s complaints by expressing that the tripartite trial represented “unjustified political persecution.”
Trump’s message comes after the US president recently positioned himself in favor of pardoning Netanyahu, who has been charged with fraud, bribery and breach of trust since 2019. The president, who in 2021 pleaded “not guilty”, is accused of accepting gifts from businessmen worth $211,000 – about 182,000 euros – in the form of cigars or champagne, and using his influence to buy himself favorable media coverage in exchange for proposing legislative measures in favor of the telecom mogul.
“While I fully respect the independence and requirements of the Israeli judicial system, I believe that this ‘case’ against Bibi (Netanyahu’s nickname), who has fought alongside me for a long time, including against Israel’s strong opponents and (also against) Iran, is political and unjustified persecution,” Trump said in the letter released by President Herzog’s office.
The text continues: “Now that we have rescued the hostages (the Israelis in Gaza), it is time to let Netanyahu unite Israel through his pardon, and end this matter.” Law war Once and for all,” the American concludes, using the term that describes the use of the legal and judicial systems to harm a political opponent.
In Israel, the head of state has the power to pardon convicts. On some occasions, if the case is considered to be of public interest, a pardon may also be applied before sentencing. To do this, a pardon must be requested by the person under investigation or an immediate family member, which has not happened to date. In a statement on Wednesday, Herzog limited himself to noting that “whoever requests a pardon must submit a petition in accordance with established procedures.”
On October 13, while appearing before the Knesset – the Israeli parliament – as part of the start of the truce in Gaza, Trump surprised him by using the opportunity to publicly address the President of Israel: “I have an idea, why don’t you pardon him?” “Cigars and champagne. Who the hell cares about that?” he said to camera applause and Netanyahu’s nervous smile, referring to the alleged gifts the prime minister would have received, according to one of the charges.
In early November, Trump returned to the fray, indicating during an interview with the American CBS network that he would “be involved” in the corruption cases facing Netanyahu to “help him a little.” “I don’t think they’re treating him well. He’s being judged for several things (…). We’ll step in to help him a little bit, because I think it’s unfair.”
Israeli opposition leader, Yair Lapid, responded to Trump’s message on social media. Netanyahu’s coalition partner and National Security Minister, the far-right Itamar Ben Gvir, used the same platform to welcome the American’s memorandum. He described the accusations against Netanyahu as “shameful”, extended his criticism to the entire Israeli judicial system, and called on President Herzog to “listen to Trump.”
Netanyahu, 76, Israel’s leader almost continuously since 2009, is the only prime minister in history to be indicted in a corruption trial. Since the start of the judicial investigation in 2020, the president has described the case as a witch hunt orchestrated by the left, and has applied all kinds of tactics to freeze or postpone it. Netanyahu’s delegation is considering having his wife, Sara Netanyahu, take the step of requesting a pardon, as Israeli television network Channel 13 reported in October, citing sources from the Prime Minister’s Office.
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