Desperate Netanyahu seeks presidential pardon in corruption cases

Crescent International

Jumada' al-Akhirah 09, 1447 2025-11-30

Daily News Analysis

by Crescent International

The indicted war criminal Benjamin Mileikowsky (aka Netanyahu) has begged the Israeli president for a formal pardon.

The appeal to Isaac Herzog stems from three corruption charges filed against Netanyahu in 2019.

He faces allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.

In one case, he is accused of receiving nearly 700,000 shekels ($211,832) in gifts from businessmen in return for favours.

What plea has Netanyahu made in seeking a presidential pardon?

In a videotaped statement, he said the trial has divided the country.

That is true.

Yet his remedy for restoring ‘national unity’ through a presidential pardon is false.

It would cause more divisions in an already deeply divided society.

Israel is a snake pit where the vipers miss no opportunity to sink their poisonous fangs into others.

Netanyahu is only concerned about saving his thick hide and avoiding jail time.

His trial has been going on since 2020 and if convicted, he would automatically lose power.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him in November 2024 accusing him of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

His war minister Yoav Gallant was also indicted.

Netanyahu also claimed that the requirement for him to appear in court three times a week is a distraction that makes it difficult for him to lead the country.

“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,” he claimed.

Opposition politicians view the situation differently.

They not only urged the president to not grant his request but opposition leader Yair Lapid went further.

He correctly argued: “You cannot grant him a pardon without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse and an immediate retirement from political life.”

Netanyahu has pleaded “not guilty” to all three charges against him.

So the question of a pardon does not arise unless he pleads guilty.

In making his pardon plea, Netanyahu sent two documents to the president.

One was a detailed letter signed by his lawyer and the other signed by Netanyahu.

“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,” Herzog’s office said in a statement on November 30.

There is a procedure for such appeals.

The documents will be sent to the Ministry of Justice for opinions and will then be transferred to the legal adviser in the president’s office, who will formulate additional opinions for the president.

Even the convicted felon Donald Trump has intervened on his behalf, twice.

While addressing the Israeli Knesset on October 13, Trump asked Herzog to pardon Netanyahu.

Then on November 12, Trump sent the Israeli president a letter urging him to consider the pardon.

It did not sit too well with people in Israel.

Since Netanyahu’s trial is ongoing, legal experts say the pardon request will not stop the trial.

“It’s impossible,” said Emi Palmor, former 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 [and grant pardon].”

The only way to stop the trial is to ask the attorney general to withhold the proceedings, she added.

Netanyahu’s pardon appeal is actually an admission of guilt.

If a person is not guilty of the charges, asking for a presidential pardon makes no legal sense.

In the zionist entity, legality and making sense are not requirements for carrying out an act.

After all, the entire zionist enterprise is based on theft of land and the forcible displacement of the indigenous population: the Palestinian people.