Netanyahu requests presidential pardon from Herzog

Israel’s prime minister sends formal request for a presidential pardon, after President Herzog rejected a request from President Donald Trump. 

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has requested a presidential pardon from President Isaac Herzog in a bid to end his ongoing corruption trial.

On Sunday, Herzog’s office announced that it had received a letter from attorneys working on Netanyahu’s behalf formally asking Israel’s president to pardon him.

“A short while ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu submitted a request for a pardon to President Isaac Herzog,” the president’s office said.

The request was submitted to the legal department of the Office of the President by the Prime Minister’s lawyer, Amit Hadad.

According to President Herzog’s office, the pardon request has been transferred to the Justice Ministry’s pardons department, which will assess the request and submit a recommendation to the president’s legal advisor.

The legal advisor for the president’s office will then weigh the Justice Ministry’s findings and issue her own recommendation, with President Herzog making the final ruling on granting or withholding a pardon.

“The Office of the President is aware that this is an extraordinary request which carries with it significant implications. After receiving all of the relevant opinions, the President will responsibly and sincerely consider the request,” a spokesperson for President Herzog said Sunday afternoon.

In the letter, Netanyahu’s legal defense team, led by Hadad, argued that the corruption trial relating to three separate cases against the prime minister, harms Israel’s national interests by forcing Netanyahu to devote time to his own defense and to testifying in court regularly.

In addition, Hadad writes that ending the trial via a pardon will help begin to heal national rifts created by the controversial cases.

Hadad added that Netanyahu maintains his innocence, emphasizing that the request for a pardon does not constitute an admission of guilt, with the prime minister convinced he would eventually be acquitted in the trial.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump also penned a letter to Herzog requesting that he grant a presidential pardon to Netanyahu.

However, Herzog responded that he will only consider a pardon if Netanyahu himself files a request.

Benjamin NetanyahuDonald TrumpIsaac HerzogPresidential pardon