“I hereby ask you to fully forgive Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a formidable and decisive prime minister during the war, and who is now leading Israel into an era of peace,” reads the letter from US President Donald Trump, released by the cabinet of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, with an official request to pardon the prime minister of Israel, who faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate criminal cases.
“President Herzog holds President Trump in the highest esteem and reiterates his deep gratitude for his steadfast support for Israel,” the Israeli president’s cabinet said in a statement published on its official channels.
“However, and without prejudice to the foregoing,” he continued, “as the Presidency has made clear at all times, anyone wishing to obtain a presidential pardon must submit a formal request in accordance with established procedures.”
For his part, Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, said Wednesday that Netanyahu should “admit guilt” and express regret as a precondition to any pardon.
“Reminder: Israeli law states that the first condition for receiving a pardon is the admission of guilt and the expression of regret for the actions committed,” Lapid said in X.
Three open court cases
Netanyahu, who has not yet been convicted, has three open court cases: cases 1,000 and 2,000, for fraud and breach of trust, and case 4,000, considered the most serious and which revolves around an alleged bribery agreement between Netanyahu and businessman Shaul Elovich, who controlled the telecommunications company Bezeq and the website Walla News and who benefited financially in exchange for favorable coverage.
“While I absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli judicial system and its requirements, I believe that this ‘case’ against Bibi is unjustified political persecution,” the US president stated in his letter to Herzog.
Trump had already asked Herzog for Netanyahu’s pardon during his speech in the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) on October 13, within the framework of the visit he made to Israel after the Israeli Government and the Islamist group Hamas accepted his peace plan.
“Why don’t you grant a pardon to Netanyahu?” Trump asked Herzog then before parliamentarians.
Netanyahu insists on “witch hunt” and “deep state” plot
The Israeli Prime Minister is scheduled to testify this Tuesday, as announced by the court investigating the case on its website, according to the weekly agenda of the trial, which requires the president’s appearance three times a week.
There are many times that the president has requested the postponement of the process since its beginning in 2024. On most occasions, he has relied on the military offensive of his troops against the Gaza Strip – now under a theoretical ceasefire – to justify his absences.
Netanyahu, who claims that the trial against him is a “witch hunt” and a “deep state” plot, is the first head of government in Israel’s history to be prosecuted while in office.
rml (efe, dpa, reuters, haaretz)
