Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has submitted a request to President Isaac Herzog for a pardon.
“In the past few years tensions and disagreements between sections of the people and the state authorities have grown. I am aware that the procedure being conducted in my affairs has become a focus of fierce conflicts. I bear broad public and moral responsibility, out of an understanding of the consequences of the totality of events. For that reason, and despite my interest in proceeding with the trial and proving my innocence to the point of a full acquittal, I believe that the public interest directs otherwise.
“Out of public responsibility as prime minister to try to bring about reconciliation between the sections of the people, I have no doubt that an end to the trial will help in lowering the intensity of the flames in the dispute that has arisen around it. In the face of the security challenges and the diplomatic opportunities before the State of Israel at this time, I am committed to do all I can to mend the breaches, to attain unity in the people and to restore confidence in the institutions of the state, and I expect all the heads of the arms of the state to do so,” Netanyahu added.
Netanyahu has been on trial in the Jerusalem District Court since 2020 in three cases. The first involves gifts received by him and his wife from businessman and film producer Arnon Milchan; the second arises from recorded conversations between Netanyahu and Arnon Mozes, proprietor of Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot, in which Netanyahu apparently offers Mozes legislation that will aid his newspaper commercially in exchange for favorable coverage; and the third concerns alleged favorable treatment of telecommunications company Bezeq, then owned by Shaul Elovitch, in return for favorable coverage on the Walla! website, which Elovitch also owned. The charges are receiving bribes, breach of trust, and fraud.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump wrote to President Herzog in support of a pardon for Netanyahu.
A statement of behalf of the president says that, in accordance with the rules, the request is being forwarded to the pardons department in the Ministry of Justice, which will coordinate professional opinions from the various relevant Ministry of Justice officials, after which their opinions will be forwarded to the legal counsel at the President’s Residence and her staff for the drafting of a further opinion for the president.
“This is an unusual request for a pardon and one with considerable consequences,” the statement adds. “After receiving all the opinions, the state president will consider it responsibly and seriously.”
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Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on November 30, 2025.
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