Protesters demonstrated this Sunday outside the residence of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, anticipating that he might grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a pardon.

Netanyahu, who is facing trial on one count of bribery, three counts of fraud, and three counts of breach of trust between 2007 and 2017, submitted a formal pardon request to Herzog this Sunday, citing “national interest.”

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The reaction was immediate. In addition to the demonstration outside the president’s private residence, members of the political opposition urged Herzog to reject the pardon request, arguing that closing Netanyahu’s corruption trial would be detrimental to the rule of law.

Netanyahu Seeks Impunity

“You cannot pardon Netanyahu without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse, and his immediate withdrawal from political life,” declared opposition leader Yair Lapid in a public video appeal to the prime minister.

The leader of the leftist Democratic Party, Yair Golan, asserted that “only the guilty seek a pardon” and maintained that “the only path to national unity is to stop the machinery of hatred and poison, to halt the dismantling of the legal and democratic systems,” a path that begins with the prime minister’s “resignation and withdrawal from public life in Israel.”

For Ahmad Tibi, of the communist Arab-Jewish party Hadash-Ta’al, Netanyahu “is not legally seeking a pardon; he is seeking to end the trial. Therefore, he neither admits his guilt nor expresses remorse.”

The Movement for Quality Government warned that granting a pardon to a prime minister accused of serious crimes would be “a death blow to the rule of law and would send a clear message that some citizens are above the law.”

Herzog to Consider Netanyahu’s Request

The President’s office issued a statement announcing that Herzog “is aware that this is an extraordinary request with significant implications” and that he will consider the request “with sincerity and responsibility.”

The pardon for Netanyahu is supported by his ministers and has been promoted by US President Donald Trump, who called for the pardon in a letter to Herzog and personally last October during his visit to Israel, when he said in front of Parliament: “Why don’t you pardon him? Who cares about a few cigars and champagne?”

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Netanyahu is on trial in the so-called “1000 Case,” accused of receiving gifts from Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan in exchange for political favors.

In addition to case 1000, the 75-year-old prime minister faces two other cases, 2000 and 4000, related to agreements with telecommunications magnates in exchange for favorable media coverage for his image.

This includes having committed, in his second term as Minister of Communication (2015-2017), a bribery offense against businessman Shaul Elovich, who controlled the telecommunications company Bezeq and the website Walla News, in order to benefit from media support in promoting his image

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