Image source, Environmental Protection Agency
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- author, James Cook
- Author title, Diplomatic correspondent, BBC, Jerusalem
- author, Pauline Cola
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- author, Patrick Jackson
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu submitted a request for pardon from his country’s President Isaac Herzog.
In response, the president’s office said that Herzog would wait to receive the opinions of judicial officials before considering the “extraordinary request that carries significant implications.”
Over the past five years, Netanyahu has been tried for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in connection with three separate cases. The president maintains his innocence.
Netanyahu said in a video message that he would have preferred the process to continue until the end, but national interests “demand otherwise.”
The opposition in Israel says he must admit his guilt before seeking pardon.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump urged Herzog to “full pardon” the prime minister.
At the time, Herzog explained that anyone seeking a pardon would have to submit a formal application.
On Sunday, the President’s Office published the request and a letter written by the Prime Minister himself, given “the importance of this exceptional request and its repercussions.”
He did not indicate when the president would make his decision.
In 2020, Netanyahu became the first Israeli leader to be put on trial.
The three cases against Netanyahu
- Status 1000: Netanyahu is accused of fraud and breach of trust. He allegedly received numerous high-value gifts, including pink champagne and cigars, in exchange for favors for a wealthy friend. Netanyahu confirms that they were signs of friendship and that he did not act inappropriately. The friend also denies any behavior outside the law.
- Status 2000: These are also charges of fraud and breach of trust. According to the indictment, the prime minister struck a deal with the editor of a major newspaper to strengthen legislation to weaken a competitor in exchange for positive coverage. The editor-in-chief has also been accused of bribery, but, like the prime minister, he denies the accusations.
- Status 4000This is considered the most dangerous matter because Netanyahu is accused of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. According to the indictment, Netanyahu promoted regulatory decisions in favor of a leading telecommunications company in exchange for positive news coverage on one of its websites, as part of a deal with the company’s controlling shareholder.
“An impossible request”
Netanyahu pleaded not guilty to all charges against him and described the trial as a “witch hunt” launched by his political opponents.
He said in his video message on Sunday that the continuation of the trial “will tear us apart from within” at a time when Israel faces “tremendous challenges, and at the same time great opportunities” that require unity.
“I am certain, like many others in the country, that an immediate end to the trial will greatly help in dousing the flames and promoting broad reconciliation, something our country so desperately needs,” the Prime Minister declared.
He added that he is summoned to appear in court three times a week, describing this as an “impossible request.”
He insisted that the amnesty would help Israel ward off threats and seize opportunities by strengthening “national unity.”
Opposition politicians accused him of trying to confuse his personal interests with those of the state.
Image source, Getty Images
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that an amnesty could not be issued without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse, and Netanyahu’s immediate withdrawal from political life.
For his part, Yair Golan, a leftist politician and former deputy commander of the Israeli forces, said that “only the guilty” ask for pardon.
According to Israel’s Basic Law, the president has “the power to pardon criminals and commute or convert (change) their sentences.”
However, the Israeli Supreme Court has previously ruled that the president can pardon an individual before conviction if it is in the public interest or if there are unusual personal circumstances.
The Likud Party, Netanyahu’s right-wing party, and its supporters continue to support pardoning their leader.
But for many in Israel, especially on the left, this will be interpreted as another step that would distance the country from its sense of identity as a strong democracy with a solid legal system.
Public fear in the wake of government plans to reform the judicial system brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets in protest for months before the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, that sparked the latest war in Gaza.
In a separate case, the International Criminal Court last year issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war between Israel and Hamas. Netanyahu condemned the move, calling it “anti-Semitic.”
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