The news hit the headlines in Israel without warning: On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Isaac Herzog to grant him a preemptive pardon, ending his corruption trial. It would be a highly controversial, almost unprecedented move, as presidential pardons are usually only granted after a conviction.
Yedioth Ahronoth, one of Israel’s leading daily newspapers, on Monday ran with the headline “The pardon dilemma,” while free right-wing daily Israel Hayom acknowledged that “the request is unusual and carries significant implications.”
In a televised video statement, Netanyahu argued that while it was in his personal interest to prove his innocence in court, it was also in the national interest to cut short the trial, which he claimed was “tearing us apart.”
“The security and political reality, the national interest, demands otherwise,” Netanyahu said in his video statement. “The ongoing trial is tearing us apart from within, fueling fierce disagreements and deepening divisions.”
Netanyahu claimed that “ending the trial immediately would help lower tensions and promote reconciliation our country so desperately needs.”
Pardon request backed by Trump
Israeli commentators noted that the request came just a short while after US President Donald Trump wrote to Herzog on November 12, also asking for a full pardon for Netanyahu. Trump, a longtime supporter of Netanyahu, also called for the pardon during his speech at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in October.
Netanyahu is the only sitting Israeli prime minister to stand trial, facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases. He stands accused of accepting luxury goods in exchange for political favors, and of soliciting favorable coverage and favors from media outlets, a telecom company and the Israeli publisher behind Yedioth Ahronoth.
Netanyahu has denied all charges, repeatedly calling the five-year trial a “witch hunt” by the media, the police and the judiciary against him and his family.
Netanyahu’s critics have long accused him of prolonging the war in Gaza and other conflicts in order to keep his ruling coalition in power and legal troubles at bay. The case against him has dragged on amid delays related to the COVID pandemic, political gridlock due to elections — with Netanyahu returning to office in December 2022 — and numerous motions filed by his lawyers to cancel hearings over diplomatic and security issues related to ongoing conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
The prime minister faces another election in autumn 2026, but political analysts have speculated it may be brought forward depending on political developments.
“Netanyahu isn’t asking for a pardon,” wrote Ben Caspit, a columnist for the Maariv daily newspaper. “He wants a bypass route. An exemption from equality before the law.”
Nadav Eyal, a commentator for Yedioth Ahronoth, characterized the pardon request as a win for Netanyahu no matter the outcome. If Herzog, a former political rival, rejects the prime minister’s request, he said Netanyahu “will exploit his victimhood all the way to the next election.”
And if the president grants the pardon without forcing Netanyahu to retire from politics, added Eyal, “even better. The problem will be over. That will prove that Netanyahu was persecuted for years and that now Herzog — even Herzog, the former Labor Party leader! — has recognized that as fact.”
Pardon highly exceptional before conviction
A pardon before a conviction is rare and highly unusual in Israel, especially if not tied to a guilty plea or resignation. There is no precedent for issuing a pardon mid-trial.
As president, Herzog has the power to grant pardons at his discretion, and the former political rivals are said to have a good working relationship. But legal experts have cautioned that granting the pardon could spark a political and constitutional crisis, which would ultimately land in the hands of Israel’s Supreme Court.
In a position paper published by independent think tank The Israel Democracy Institute on November 19, before Netanyahu’s pardon request, research fellow Dana Blander wrote that a pardon from Herzog risks setting the president up as an authority above the judicial system.
“Presidential involvement while legal proceedings are still underway may undermine the rule of law, law-enforcement authorities, and equality before the law,” wrote Blander.
One of the rare exceptions is a case from 40 years ago, involving senior officials with Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security service. Those charged were accused of covering up the execution of two Palestinian militants involved in a bus hijacking, while in custody. Chaim Herzog, the father of the current president who himself was president at the time, granted pre-trial pardons that were confirmed by the Supreme Court.
In return for pardon, opposition calls for Netanyahu to step down
Netanyahu’s coalition partners have supported his pardon request, but the prime minister’s claim that it would unite the country was quickly shut down by the opposition.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid called on Herzog not to pardon Netanyahu unless he immediately steps down as prime minister.
“You cannot grant him a pardon without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse, and an immediate retirement from political life,” Lapid said in a video statement on Sunday.
This was echoed by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who wrote on X that he would support a pardon if this “will include a dignified withdrawal from political life alongside the end of the trial.”
Netanyahu’s legal troubles have at times dominated the headlines during his most recent term in office. Shortly after forming his government in late 2022, Netanyahu launched a controversial plan to overhaul the judicial system and limit the judiciary’s power, including a law removing the Supreme Court’s ability to invalidate government decisions deemed “extremely unreasonable.”
The overhaul sparked nationwide protests, with critics accusing the prime minister of a conflict of interest, pointing out that he was attempting to weaken the justice system while on trial himself.
On Sunday night, Israeli media was already speculating that Herzog could opt for a conditional pardon or try to revive a plea bargain. This could be tied to potentially acknowledging “wrongdoing” or limitations on Netanyahu’s political future — an outcome that Netanyahu has so far firmly rejected.
Any potential pardon is expected to take time. The request is first sent to the Justice Ministry and then transferred to the legal adviser in the Office of the President for additional opinions, before the president makes his decision.
In a statement on Monday, Herzog said Netanyahu’s pardon request “is clearly provoking debate and is deeply unsettling for many people in the country, across different communities.”
In making his decision, Herzog said he would “consider solely the best interests of the State of Israel and Israeli society.”
Edited by: Martin Kübler
