Heeding Herzog, AG okays unconditional talks for plea deal in Netanyahu’s graft trial

Prime minister’s lawyers have yet to respond to president’s offer last week to host talks; Baharav-Miara previously rejected judge’s offer of nonbinding mediation

The prosecution in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial has agreed to hold talks on a “suitable plea bargain,” the attorney general’s office informed President Isaac Herzog’s legal adviser on Sunday.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and State Prosecutor Amit Aisman “appreciate the honorable president’s efforts” to reach a deal, and are willing to negotiate “provided there are no preconditions, and without detracting from the trial’s progress,” they said in a letter signed by an assistant to Baharav-Miara.

“At the present time we will not address additional issues including the format of the discussion, the nature of discussion and its location,” the letter said.

Netanyahu’s lawyers have yet to respond to last week’s invitation from Herzog’s legal adviser Michal Tzuk to try and hash out “agreements” at the President’s Residence.

Tzuk stated in a letter that an “arrangement” would be in the interest of the country, and noted that the president had publicly expressed this position several times.

She asked them to reply to the invitation by May 3.

Also last week, Herzog said he would not currently grant Netanyahu’s request for a pardon and would instead seek to mediate a plea deal in the trial.

Herzog has held off on granting Netanyahu a pardon despite immense pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has personally lashed out at the Israeli president multiple times, calling him “weak and pathetic” and demanding that he immediately pardon the prime minister.

Netanyahu’s supporters have echoed that request, insisting on Netanyahu’s innocence and saying the trial is dividing the country.

On the other side, the Justice Ministry’s Pardons Department has advised Herzog against accepting the pardon request, citing the premier’s ongoing trial and failure to admit any guilt.

The prosecution’s agreement to hold plea deal talks marked a reversal from Baharav-Miara’s position in May 2023, when she told Netanyahu’s defense team that she was not interested in a nonbinding mediation process suggested by one of the judges in the premier’s trial.

Netanyahu is the first sitting Israeli prime minister to go on trial. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has claimed that the cases against him — which concern allegations that he traded political favors for financial benefits and favorable press coverage — are a witch hunt and a political coup attempt fabricated by his opponents.

The prime minister formally requested a pardon in November, arguing that the trial was tearing the country apart and distracting him from his duties. But he did not admit guilt, raising the question of whether he could receive a pardon while his trial was ongoing.

In previous plea deal talks, Netanyahu has also reportedly balked at accepting a clause of “moral turpitude” — which would bar him from public office for seven years.

Netanyahu began testifying in his trial in late 2024, but his cross-examination has been frequently canceled or cut short following requests from his lawyers that cited urgent matters of state.

His scheduled appearance in court on Monday was canceled following an overnight message from his attorney, the court administration said in a statement Monday morning, without elaborating. Netanyahu resumed his testimony last week following a two-month delay due to the Iran war.