President Donald Trump called on President Isaac Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a recent interview with Axios.
“Every day I talk to Bibi about the war. I want him to focus on the war and not on the [expletive] court case. I want the only pressure on Bibi to be the fighting against Iran,” Trump reportedly said. “The president … should give Bibi the pardon today. I don’t want anything on Bibi’s mind other than fighting against Iran.”
President Trump noted that Herzog previously indicated he would grant the pardon. “He told me he would give it to him. But he has held it over Bibi’s head for a year,” he said. “Tell him I am exposing him. That president better damn well give him the pardon right now — and stop using it as leverage for his own political career.”
Herzog’s office said in a statement following Trump’s comments, as per The Times of Israel, that he “greatly respects and appreciates the tremendous contribution of Donald Trump to Israel’s security,” and views him as the “leader of the free world, a central ally of Israel, and particularly values his firm stance against Iran.” The statement added that Israel “is a sovereign state governed by the rule of law.”
“After the process is completed, the president will examine the request according to the law, the good of the country, and according to his conscience, without any influence from external or internal pressures of any kind,” his office noted.
President Trump called for Herzog to pardon Netanyahu in November. He wrote that Netanyahu has “stood tall for Israel in the face of strong adversaries and long odds, and his attention cannot be unnecessarily diverted.” He added that he believes the “case” against Netanyahu, “who has fought alongside me for a long time, including against the very tough adversary of Israel, Iran, is a political, unjustified prosecution.”
“Now that we have achieved these unprecedented successes, and are keeping Hamas in check, it is time to let Bibi unite Israel by pardoning him, and ending that lawfare once and for all,” the letter added.
