TRANSCRIPT
In Israel, a political earthquake, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally asks President Isaac Herzog to pardon him from ongoing corruption charges.
The request, unprecedented for a sitting prime minister, has divided the country and set off a firestorm of protests, legal warnings, and political appeals.
In a video statement released by his Likud Party, Mr Netanyahu says he’s acted out of national duty, not personal interest, arguing the ongoing trial makes it impossible to govern effectively.
“Citizens of Israel, nearly a decade has passed since the investigations against me began. The trial has been ongoing for close to six years, and it is expected to continue for many more years… My personal interest has been and remains to continue the process to its conclusion, until full acquittal on all charges. However, the security and diplomatic reality, the national interest, demand otherwise.”
He went on to say the proceedings are tearing Israel apart, and that unity demands closing the case once and for all.
“The continuation of the trial tears us apart from within, stirs up this division, and deepens rifts. I am sure, like many others in the nation, that an immediate conclusion of the trial would greatly help to lower the flames and promote the broad reconciliation that our country so desperately needs.”
The Likud statement confirming the request includes both a letter from Mr Netanyahu and a detailed brief from his lawyers.
Israel’s presidential office has called it an extraordinary request with significant implications.
But opposition parties say a pardon without guilt or remorse would shatter the rule of law.
In his own video message, opposition leader Yair Lapid had this to say.
“From here I call on President Herzog: You cannot pardon him without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse, and an immediate retirement from political life.”
In Israel, pardons are traditionally considered after a conviction, not during an active trial.
Across Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, reactions have been mixed.
Some residents like David Hasson of Kiryat Malachi [[MA-lak-eye]] in southern Israel say they’re exhausted by the six-year trial and want closure.
“I think that Bibi should be granted pardon in order to end this lengthy trial that’s been going on for so many years.”
Others like Jill Rosenfield, are far less forgiving.
“If he can't manage being the prime minister of the country and going to the trial, he should resign as prime minister. And I would be very happy to see him resign and for the trial to come to an end. And if he is found guilty, then he can apply for a pardon. But to ask for a pardon without admitting any guilt, without losing any position, without it affecting his life whatsoever, other than that he gets off scot-free, I certainly don't think that he should get it.”
And for Hannah Washolder-Katsman, whose son was killed in the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack, any reconciliation must come with accountability.
“I think that if he would resign I would be happy to grant him reconciliation. My son was killed on October 7th on the kibbutz and I think that he should take responsibility for that. He should resign and he should encourage setting up a National Committee of Inquiry. So there's a justification for ending the trial but only if he would resign.”
That anger spilled onto the streets outside President Herzog’s home, where demonstrators wearing orange jumpsuits and Netanyahu masks staged mock trials.
Shikma Bressler led one of the protests.
“We are here to demonstrate and tell 'Bougie 'Herzog, the president, that we are aware that he is a weak point in our battle for democracy in Israel. What Netanyahu is asking is not for a pardon. He is asking that his trial will be completely cancelled without taking any responsibility, without paying the price for how he tore up this country and how he eventually brought to the massacre of 7th of October.”
Another protester, Katia Armoza, says a pardon without guilt would betray the public.
“We came here tonight because today Benjamin Netanyahu asked the president for pardon, pardon for all, for all his faults, for all. So we came to tell the 'Bougie' that we are not accepting 'Hanina', pardon , because he is guilty and he wants to get the pardon without being guilty, without paying his debt with us, with the people.”
Police monitored the rally but no arrests were reported.
Legal experts say the president’s options are wide but constitutionally risky.
Professor Ronit Levine-Schnur of Tel Aviv University explains why.
“Israeli law does not prescribe any specific procedures with respect to pardon. This is a special authority granted to the President of the State of Israel. There is a very limited judicial review available on this power. There are basically no limitations other than that pardon is applicable to criminals. And so the conventional interpretation of the term criminals means those who were already convicted.”
She warns that granting clemency before conviction could undermine judicial independence.
“If the pardon is granted, you could no longer say that we have an independent judiciary, that we have a system that everyone is subject to the rule of law, and that would mean long-term consequences for the democratic stability of the state of Israel.”
Meanwhile, on Jerusalem’s streets, Israelis continue to argue whether clemency would heal the country, or break it further.
Yohanan Plesner is with the Israel Democracy Institute.
“In this case, Netanyahu’s request, he basically says 'I’m completely innocent, I’m sure that I can prove this innocence, but not for my own interest, for the country’s interest I’m requesting this pardon.' So there is no assumption of responsibility whatsoever, and this might project a problematic message to all public figures and to what our public norms might look like.”
Benjamin Netanyahu remains Israel’s longest-serving leader, and now, its first sitting prime minister to ask for a presidential pardon mid-trial.
