Trump Asks Isaac Herzog to Pardon Netanyahu ✉️🇮🇱

Trump has repeated a request to Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, for a pardon for Netanyahu who is on trial in three separate corruption cases. ⚖️

The Israeli prime minister has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the ongoing court cases. No rulings have been delivered, and his supporters have dismissed the trials as politically motivated.

In a letter released by Herzog’s office on Wednesday, Trump says he is writing to the president at a “historic time, as we have, together, just secured peace that has been sought for at least 3,000 years”. 🕊📜

“I hereby call on you to fully pardon Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a formidable and decisive War Time Prime Minister … While I absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli Justice System … I believe that this ’case’ against Bibi … is political, unjustified prosecution,” he writes.

Trump has already suggested a presidential pardon for Netanyahu in a series of social media posts and a speech to the Israeli parliament last month. 📣

Despite the largely ceremonial role of the Israeli presidency, Herzog has the authority to pardon convicted criminals under unusual circumstances. Netanyahu’s trials, which began in 2020, have not yet concluded, and he has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are accused in one case of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewellery and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favours. 💼💎

He is also accused of attempting to negotiate more favourable coverage from two Israeli media outlets in two other cases. 📰

On Tuesday, Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, who has been a key liaison between Netanyahu and the White House since his appointment in 2022, announced his resignation. One of the most influential members of the country’s rightwing government, Dermer is a close aide of Netanyahu and led months of intense negotiations before the US-led Gaza ceasefire deal that came into effect last month. 🤝🇺🇸

Dermer’s departure follows weeks of speculation in Israeli media. Critics accuse the US-born 54-year-old of failing to bring the war in Gaza to an earlier end, with some saying he helped Netanyahu drag out the conflict to avoid potential imprisonment on corruption charges if ousted from office.

Yossi Mekelberg, an expert on Israel politics at London’s Chatham House, said the consequences of Dermer’s resignation would be limited. 🧠

“Netanyahu is definitely losing an ally who he trusted and felt closer than most others in the cabinet. Dermer is someone he trusts, but lacks any political base in Israel,” he said.

In his resignation letter, Dermer, who was appointed in 2022, said he had promised his family he would not serve for longer than two years, and praised the Israeli prime minister’s singular leadership. ✍️

A Yossi Mekelberg, an expert on Israel politics at London’s Chatham House, said the consequences of Dermer’s resignation would be limited. “Netanyahu is definitely losing an ally who he trusted and felt closer than most others in the cabinet. Dermer is someone he trusts, but lacks any political base in Israel,” he said.

In his resignation letter, Dermer, who was appointed in 2022, said he had promised his family he would not serve for longer than two years, and praised the Israeli prime minister’s singular leadership.

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📌 Netanyahu Has Asked Israel's President For a Pardon

👉 Netanyahu has asked Israel's president for a pardon for bribery and fraud charges and an end to a five-year corruption trial, arguing that it would be in the 🇮🇱“national interest”. 😟

✅ Isaac Herzog’s office acknowledged receipt of the 111-page submission from the prime minister’s lawyer, and said it had been passed on to the pardons department in the ministry of justice. The president’s legal adviser would also formulate an opinion before Herzog made a decision, it added. ✍️

🚨 “The office of the president is aware that this is an extraordinary request which carries with it significant implications,” a statement from his office said. “After receiving all of the relevant opinions, the president will responsibly and sincerely consider the request.” 🤔

➡️ Presidential pardons in Israel have almost never been granted before conviction, with the one notable exception of a 1986 case involving the Shin Bet security service. A pre-emptive pardon of a politician in a corruption case without an admission of guilt would be precedent-setting and highly controversial. ⚖️

💬 The submission on Sunday comes weeks after Donald Trump wrote to Herzog to ask him to pardon Netanyahu, who has been on trial since 2020 on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, involving alleged political favours for wealthy backers in return for gifts or positive media coverage. 🗣

❌ Netanyahu rejects the allegations, and has condemned the case as a “witch-hunt” orchestrated by the media, police and judiciary. His critics have accused him of prolonging the war in Gaza to keep his coalition together so he can stay in office and keep his legal jeopardy at bay, but elections are due next year. 🎯

📊 In a short letter included in his legal filing and in a televised statement released on Sunday, Netanyahu argued it was in his personal interest to prove his innocence in court, but that it was in the interest of national unity to cut short the trial, which he claimed was “tearing us apart”. 🧐

🛠 The prime minister said in the televised statement: “As exonerating evidence that completely disproves the false claims against me is revealed in court, and as it becomes clear that the case against me was built through serious violations, my personal interest was and remains to continue this process to its end, until full acquittal on all counts.” 📋

🏁 The single significant precedent is a case from nearly 40 years ago, in which senior Shin Bet officials were accused of covering up the execution of two Palestinian militants involved in a bus hijack. The high court of justice allowed the president at the time, Chaim Herzog – the father of the current president – to issue pre-indictment pardons in the circumstances. 🕵️‍♂️

📚 However, legal scholars say it is far from clear that the 1986 case, Barzilai v government of Israel, would provide a precedent for Netanyahu’s corruption trial, especially in the absence of an admission of guilt from the prime minister. 👀

😡 Yair Lapid, the leader of the Yesh Atid party, sent a message to Herzog on social media, saying: “You cannot grant Netanyahu a pardon without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse, and an immediate withdrawal from political life.” 🗳

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