Tel Aviv — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday asked the country’s president to grant him a pardon on corruption charges — seeking to end a long-running trial that has bitterly divided the country.
Netanyahu, who is waging a war against the country’s legal system over these accusations, said that the request would help unite the country at a time when the region is witnessing very important changes. But it immediately drew condemnation from his opponents, who said it would weaken Israel’s democratic institutions and send a dangerous message that he is above the rule of law.
The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Sunday that Netanyahu submitted a request for pardon to the legal department in the president’s office. The president’s office described it as an “extraordinary request” that carries with it “major ramifications.”
Netanyahu is the only prime minister in Israel’s history to stand trial, after being charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases accusing him of exchanging favors with wealthy political supporters. He was not convicted of anything.
Netanyahu rejects these accusations and condemned the case, describing it as a witch hunt organized by the media, police and judiciary.
The request comes weeks after US President Donald Trump asked Israel to pardon Netanyahu. Earlier this month, Trump also sent a letter to President Isaac Herzog in which he called the corruption case an “unwarranted political prosecution.”
Netanyahu said in a video-recorded statement that the trial divided the country and that the pardon would help restore national unity. He also said that the requirement that he appear in court three times a week is a distraction that makes it difficult for him to lead the country.
He added, “The continuation of the trial is tearing us apart from within, provoking this division, and deepening the differences. I am certain, like many others in the country, that the immediate conclusion of the trial will greatly help lower the flames and promote the broad reconciliation that our country so desperately needs.”
Netanyahu has taken this position several times over the past year, but the issue has been repeatedly postponed as he deals with the wars and unrest caused by Hamas-led armed attacks in October 2023.
Netanyahu’s pardon request consists of two documents – a detailed letter signed by his lawyer and a letter signed by Netanyahu. It will be sent to the Department of Justice for an opinion, and then it will be forwarded to the Legal Counsel in the Office of the President, who will draft additional opinions for the President.
Legal experts say that requesting a pardon cannot stop the trial.
“It’s impossible,” said Amy Palmor, former director general of the Ministry of Justice.
“You can’t claim you’re innocent during a trial and come to the president and ask him to intervene,” she said. She said that the only way to stop the trial was to ask the Public Prosecutor to stop the proceedings.
Netanyahu claims there is a conspiracy to remove him
In 2008, Netanyahu, as opposition leader, called on then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to step down as he faced a growing corruption scandal. At the time, Netanyahu said that the prime minister “up to his neck” in the scandal had no mandate to lead the country, and there was a risk that Olmert would make decisions that served his personal interests, not those of the nation. Olmert resigned even before he was indicted that year, and subsequently spent 16 months in prison.
Netanyahu has struck a different and defiant tone since his legal troubles began. He has portrayed himself as the victim of a “deep state” conspiracy trying to oust him from office.
Shortly after forming his current government in late 2022, Netanyahu launched a plan to reform the country’s judicial system.
Netanyahu portrayed the plan as a much-needed reform. But his opponents accused him of trying to weaken the judicial system, harming the country’s system of checks and balances, and conflicting interests at a time when he was on trial.
The plan sparked massive street protests against the government, and critics said the deep divisions sent a message of weakness to Israel’s enemies, encouraging Hamas to launch its attacks in 2003.
Netanyahu’s request also sparked backlash on Sunday, with an immediate response from opposition and advocacy groups, urging the president not to give in to his request.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said, “He cannot be granted a pardon without admitting guilt, expressing remorse and immediately retiring from political life.”
The Movement for Quality Governance in Israel said that granting a pardon to a prime minister accused of committing serious crimes of fraud and breach of trust would send a clear message that there are citizens above the law.
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Associated Press writer Joseph Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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