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Bibi Seeks Clemency On Corruption Charges

_{By: Atlas}

Netanyahu Asks Israeli President for Pardon in Corruption Case

The Request

Benjamin Netanyahu wants out of his corruption trial. On Sunday, the Israeli prime minister formally asked President Isaac Herzog to pardon him, a move that would end five years of legal proceedings that have consumed his government and fractured the country along bitter political lines.

Herzog's office wasted no time signaling the gravity of the moment, calling it an "extraordinary request" with "significant implications." The president offered no timeline for a decision.

Netanyahu's submission included two documents—a letter from his attorney outlining the legal arguments and a personal letter from the prime minister himself. Both will now travel through Israel's justice bureaucracy, landing first at the Justice Ministry for review before reaching the president's legal adviser for a formal recommendation.

In a video statement posted Sunday, Netanyahu said the trial had become a distraction he could no longer afford. He pointed to the requirement that he appear in court three times weekly as an unreasonable burden. "That is an impossible demand that is not made of any other citizen," he said.

But Netanyahu framed the request in grander terms than personal inconvenience. He argued that ending the trial would serve national reconciliation. "The continuation of the trial tears us apart from within, stirs up this division, and deepens rifts," he said.

What Netanyahu Is Accused Of

The charges against Netanyahu stem from three separate cases, all centering on allegations that he traded political influence for personal benefit. Prosecutors say he accepted expensive gifts—cigars, champagne—from wealthy businessmen. They accuse him of negotiating favorable media coverage in exchange for regulatory help to a telecom magnate. And they allege he dangled circulation assistance to a newspaper publisher who would print flattering stories about him and his family.

Netanyahu has denied all of it. He calls the prosecution a coordinated attack by political enemies embedded in the media, police, and courts. His lawyers maintained in Sunday's filing that he still expects full acquittal.

None of that has been tested to conclusion. Netanyahu remains unconvicted. He is, however, the first sitting Israeli prime minister ever to stand trial.

The case has dragged on through war and national crisis. Proceedings have been interrupted repeatedly since Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages. Netanyahu has appeared on the witness stand multiple times over the past year, but the trial remains far from finished.

Trump's Push

Netanyahu's request did not materialize in a vacuum. Weeks earlier, Donald Trump publicly called on Herzog to pardon the prime minister during a speech to Israel's parliament. Trump followed up with a letter to Herzog this month, describing the prosecution as "political, unjustified."

The American president's intervention was unusual. Foreign leaders do not typically weigh in on another country's domestic criminal proceedings. But Trump and Netanyahu share a long political alliance, and the gesture provided Netanyahu with external validation as he prepared his formal request.

Herzog, for his part, made clear after Trump's public appeal that anyone seeking a pardon would need to submit proper paperwork. Netanyahu has now done so.

Outside Herzog's residence Sunday evening, protesters gathered with a pile of bananas and a sign reading that a pardon would make Israel a banana republic.

Can It Work?

Legal experts are skeptical the pardon request can actually halt the trial. Israeli presidents typically consider pardons only after legal proceedings have ended and a conviction has been handed down. Preconviction pardons are extraordinarily rare.

"It's impossible," said Emi Palmor, who previously served as director-general of the Justice Ministry. "You cannot claim that you're innocent while the trial is going on and come to the president and ask him to intervene."

Palmor noted that stopping the trial would require the attorney general to withdraw the proceedings—a different mechanism entirely from a presidential pardon.

The Israel Democracy Institute weighed in earlier this month, before Netanyahu submitted his request. "A pardon before conviction, while legal proceedings are ongoing, threatens the rule of law and seriously undermines the principle of equality before the law," the organization wrote.

Still, the president holds broad discretion. Israel's High Court has previously ruled that pardons can be issued before conviction if public interest demands it or if extraordinary personal circumstances exist. Netanyahu's lawyers are betting that argument will hold.

There is also the matter of who reviews the request. Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a Likud member and close Netanyahu ally, oversees the ministry that will provide its assessment to the president.

The Political Fallout

Opposition lawmakers did not wait long to respond. Yair Lapid, who leads the opposition, said Herzog could not grant a pardon without three conditions: an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse, and Netanyahu's immediate retirement from politics. Netanyahu's filing included none of these.

Yair Golan, a former deputy commander of the Israeli military now serving as a left-wing lawmaker, was blunter. "Only the guilty" seek pardons, he said, and called on Netanyahu to resign.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel warned that pardoning a sitting prime minister accused of bribery and fraud would tell citizens that some people stand above the law.

Netanyahu's coalition partners backed him. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich both issued supportive statements.

Among ordinary Israelis, opinion split along familiar lines. "Bibi Netanyahu did totally the right thing requesting the pardon," said Lior Gal, a Jerusalem resident. "He deserves to be pardoned. This chapter should be over."

Netanyahu's Own Words

The pardon request puts Netanyahu in an awkward position with his own past statements. In 2008, he demanded that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resign over a corruption scandal. A leader "up to his neck" in legal trouble, Netanyahu argued at the time, had no mandate to govern. He warned that such a leader might put personal survival ahead of national interest.

Olmert stepped down before he was even indicted. He later served 16 months in prison.

Netanyahu has taken a different path. Since his own indictment, he has cast himself as the target of a conspiracy, a victim of unelected officials bent on overturning the will of voters who have repeatedly chosen him.

After returning to power in late 2022, he launched an effort to overhaul Israel's judiciary—a plan he framed as democratic reform. Critics saw it as an attempt to defang the courts while he stood trial. The proposal sparked months of mass protests before the October 7 attacks shifted national attention.

Polls suggest Netanyahu's coalition would struggle to hold power if elections were held today. The next vote must occur by October 2026.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu faces legal exposure beyond Israel's borders. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him last year over alleged war crimes in Gaza. He has dismissed that action as antisemitic.

Herzog has given no indication of when he might rule on the pardon. The president's office said he would consider the request "responsibly and sincerely" after receiving the required legal opinions.

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