Herzog’s office requests additional materials from Justice Ministry on PM’s pardon request

President’s legal adviser seeks precedents of individuals pardoned prior to conviction, as Trump and Netanyahu allies push to end PM’s criminal trial

President Isaac Herzog’s office said on Sunday that it had requested “additional supplementary materials” from the Justice Ministry regarding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a pardon in his corruption trial.

Herzog is under intense pressure from coalition members and from US President Donald Trump to pardon Netanyahu, whose trial is ongoing.

The president’s legal adviser, Michal Tzuk, requested materials “regarding precedents in the exercise of the pardon authority prior to the conclusion of criminal proceedings, including in cases involving diplomatic gestures or hostage-release deals.”

The Justice Ministry’s Pardons Department filed a legal position paper on Netanyahu’s pardon request earlier this month, determining that pardoning him would be highly problematic and unprecedented, given that the premier’s trial is ongoing, and given that Netanyahu did not admit guilt or express remorse in his November request, citing only the need to end the trial for the good of the nation.

Netanyahu is standing trial on one charge of bribery, as well as three charges of fraud and breach of trust, after being indicted in 2020.

The department added that the request relies heavily on public interest arguments related to diplomacy and security, which it said it was not equipped to assess, while warning that granting such a pardon could harm the principle of equality before the law.

Tzuk noted that despite the clear differences between Netanyahu’s case and other cases involving diplomatic gestures or hostage-release deals, materials about such precedents “relate to the very exercise of the pardon authority during an ongoing legal process.”

Tzuk also requested clarifications on the differences between the various position papers that have been submitted, per the office’s statement. Herzog’s office also passed on public petitions about the pardon to the Pardons Department.

“The request was made as part of completing the professional review, prior to formulating a recommendation to President Isaac Herzog, and it should not be taken to indicate any position whatsoever regarding the request,” the statement said.

“Following receipt of the requested responses, handling of the request will continue in accordance with established procedures,” Herzog’s office added.

Israel’s Basic Law: The President of the State, clause 11b, which provides the legal framework for the president’s pardoning authority, states that “the president of the state has the power to pardon offenders and modify sentences by reducing or commuting them.”

The extent to which an individual who has not yet been convicted can be considered an “offender” under the law, and hence eligible for a pardon that would end their trial before it is completed is a matter of legal debate.

In 1986, the High Court ruled that a pardon before a conviction could be acceptable in exceptional circumstances, and “when it was made clear that the applicants admitted having committed the criminal acts for which they asked to be pardoned.”

Last week, Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, acting in place of Justice Minister Yariv Levin, submitted his position paper regarding the pardon to Herzog, backing the move, according to Haaretz. Eliyahu wrote that a pardon would “enable the healing of the rifts” between the various groups within the nation, per the report.

Over the last month, US President Trump has ratcheted up pressure on Herzog to pardon Netanyahu, calling Herzog “full of crap” and a “weak and pathetic guy” because he has not yet issued a pardon.

The Israeli president said that he will make a decision “without pressure and without noise from any direction,” an apparent reference to Trump’s attacks, and criticized Netanyahu for not pushing back against the US leader’s comments.