Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formally requested a presidential pardon in his long-running corruption trial, marking a dramatic reversal for a leader who has long insisted the charges against him would collapse in court. The request, submitted Thursday and made public Sunday, has ignited immediate political controversy and renewed debate over the limits of presidential authority, the integrity of Israel’s judicial system and the country’s increasingly fractured political landscape.
In a one-page letter to President Isaac Herzog, Netanyahu argued that the trial had become a “focal point of fierce controversy” and claimed that granting a pardon would serve the “public interest.” While reiterating his desire to prove his innocence, he wrote that the state faced urgent diplomatic and security challenges that demanded unity rather than continued legal turmoil.
Netanyahu, who has steadfastly denied charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, offered no admission of wrongdoing and made no commitments regarding his political future. Herzog’s office confirmed receipt of the request and said the president would consider it “with great care and responsibility.”
The appeal represents an extraordinary moment in Israeli political history. Netanyahu is the first sitting prime minister ever to face criminal prosecution while in office. His trial, which began in May 2020, spans three complex cases, the most serious of which involves allegations that he advanced regulatory benefits worth more than $250 million to telecommunications magnate Shaul Elovitch in exchange for favorable coverage on the Elovitch-owned news site Walla. Both men deny any wrongdoing. Netanyahu’s testimony, which began in late 2024, has been repeatedly delayed mostly at his request, pushing the expected conclusion of the trial years into the future.
Opposition leaders were quick to condemn the pardon request. Yair Lapid, head of the opposition, urged Herzog to reject it unless Netanyahu first admitted guilt, expressed remorse and exited political life. “You cannot grant Netanyahu a pardon without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse, and an immediate withdrawal from political life,” Lapid said in a video statement. Yair Golan, leader of the left-wing Democrats party, wrote on X that “only someone guilty asks for a pardon,” pointing to the eight years of proceedings without the collapse of the cases.
Netanyahu’s allies, however, defended the move. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called a pardon “critical for the security of the state,” arguing that the country needed governmental stability during a volatile period. The request also received a significant boost from abroad. Earlier this month, former US President Donald Trump intervened with his own letter to Herzog urging a full pardon, describing Netanyahu as a “formidable and decisive wartime prime minister” leading Israel “into a time of peace.” Trump has repeatedly cast himself as Netanyahu’s international defender.
Public opinion remains sharply divided. A mid-November Channel 12 poll conducted after Trump’s letter indicated that 48 percent of Israelis opposed an unconditional pardon, while 44 percent supported one and 8 percent were undecided. The split reflects the broader polarization in Israeli society, where Netanyahu’s supporters view the charges as the product of a politically motivated legal establishment, while his critics see the trial as a vital test of the rule of law.
The legal framework surrounding presidential pardons further complicates the matter. According to the Israel Democracy Institute, the president’s authority is exceedingly broad, but historically pardons are granted only after conviction. Issuing one before or during a trial is rare and controversial, with legal scholars warning it could allow the president to bypass the judiciary. Dana Blander, a research fellow at the institute, warned that doing so risks turning the president into an authority “that bypasses the law-enforcement and judicial system,” noting that the traditional role of the presidency is to act as a compassionate authority “only after all other authorities have spoken.”
With no legal deadline compelling Herzog to act, the decision could take months or longer. Until then, Netanyahu’s request hovers over Israeli politics, intensifying debates about democratic norms, judicial independence and the future of the country’s longest-serving leader. Whether the president ultimately grants or denies the pardon, the move has already reshaped the political landscape, thrusting Israel once again into a national argument over justice, leadership and the balance of power at the highest levels of government.
