The office of Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has denied a claim by Donald Trump that Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, would soon receive a pardon.
Speaking shortly before his meeting in Florida with the Israeli prime minister on Monday night, Trump said he had been told by Herzog that a pardon was “on its way”.
“How can you not?” Trump said. “He’s a wartime prime minister who’s a hero. How do you not give a pardon?”
Trump added that he “spoke to [Herzog] and he tells me it’s on its way. You can’t do better than that, right?”
Netanyahu, Israel’s first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime, denies bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges brought in 2019. His supporters have dismissed his trials as politically motivated.
The 76-year-old could be sent to prison if convicted, and a lengthy ban on holding public office would be part of any sentence. Given Netanyahu’s age, this would end his political career, Israeli analysts say.
Trump has repeatedly raised the prospect of a pardon for Netanyahu, in social media posts and during a speech to Israel’s national assembly in October. A month later, the US president wrote a formal letter to Herzog urging him to grant clemency and describing the case as “political, unjustified prosecution”.
Asked on Monday about Trump’s remarks, Herzog’s office said the Israeli president had not had any conversations with Trump since receiving the letter in November.
“There has not been a conversation between President Herzog and President Trump since the pardon request was submitted,” Herzog’s office said in a statement issued a few minutes after Trump’s comments.
Responding to that earlier request, Herzog’s office said the Israeli president appreciated Trump’s “unwavering support of Israel, his immense contribution to the return of the hostages, the transformation of the Middle East and Gaza and the safeguarding of Israel’s security” but stressed that “anyone seeking a pardon must submit a request in accordance with the established procedures”.
Many in Israel were outraged by Trump’s intervention, saying it infringed national sovereignty.
Herzog’s office said the Israeli president had spoken to a representative for Trump then and it was explained that any decision would be made in accordance with established procedures.
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, is reported to have met Herzog earlier this year to discuss cancelling Netanyahu’s trial. Herzog delivered a lengthy lecture explaining why this was not in his power, a Jerusalem Post columnist reported.
“The cases are proceeding at an infuriatingly slow pace but they are closing in on the defendant. Therefore, a pardon is required. Actually, not a pardon. For a pardon, you have to admit and step down. As far as Netanyahu is concerned, the trial must be cancelled. At any cost,” Ben Caspit wrote.
Netanyahu himself submitted a formal pardon request to Herzog on 30 November, arguing that frequent court hearings impaired his ability to govern and that clemency served the national interest by acting to “lower the flames and promote broad reconciliation”.
The request by the six-time prime minister drew fierce criticism from opponents, who said pardoning him mid-trial would be a total breach of the rule of law.
Experts say that although presidential powers of pardon can be exercised with some flexibility, they are intended to be used after conviction of an individual and there is no precedent for cancelling an ongoing trial, as Netanyahu and Trump are demanding.
Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are accused in one case of accepting more than $260,000 (£198,000) worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewellery and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favours. He is also accused of attempting to negotiate more favourable coverage from two Israeli media outlets in two other cases.
