Israeli president responds to Trump

Jerusalem — Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he received a letter from President Trump on Wednesday asking him to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial in three separate cases. corruption cases.

Netanyahu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the ongoing court cases, with no ruling yet to be issued, and his supporters have dismissed the trials as politically motivated.

In a speech to the Israeli parliament in October, Mr. Trump urged Herzog to forgive Netanyahu, telling the assembled lawmakers: “By the way, that wasn’t in the speech, as you probably know! But I happen to like this gentleman here.” [Netanyahu]and it seems to make a lot of sense.”

“This morning, President Isaac Herzog received the attached letter from US President Donald Trump, asking him to consider granting a pardon to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” Herzog’s office said in a statement, adding that the president could not initiate a pardon based solely on the US leader’s request.

In his letter, Trump said he was writing to Herzog at a “historic moment, as together we have just secured the peace that has been sought for at least 3,000 years.”

“I hereby ask you to fully forgive Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a formidable and decisive Prime Minister in times of war,” he added. “While I absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli justice system… I believe this ‘case’ against Bibi… is a political and unjustified prosecution.”

Netanyahu has long been known by the nickname Bibi.

Trump also framed his request for a pardon to Netanyahu as something his Israeli counterpart deserved for working with the White House to reach the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, saying: “Now that we have achieved these unprecedented successes and kept Hamas under control, it is time to let Bibi unite Israel by pardoning it and ending that legal war once and for all.”

He and his wife Sara are accused in one case of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury items, including cigarettes, jewelry and champagne, from billionaires. in exchange for political favors. He is also accused of trying to negotiate more favorable coverage from two Israeli media outlets in two other cases.

The statement from Herzog’s office said the Israeli president holds Trump “in the highest regard and continues to express his deep gratitude for President Trump’s unwavering support for Israel.”

“Furthermore, and without prejudice to this… anyone seeking a presidential pardon must submit a formal application in accordance with established procedures,” he added.

During his current term, which began in late 2022, Netanyahu proposed far-reaching judicial reforms that critics said sought to weaken the courts. This sparked massive protests that only subsided after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

Trump has long accused his political opponents of using the Justice Department to attack him during his time out of office, and since returning to the White House, the department, now led by his appointees, has pushed for Biden-era justice officials to be prosecuted by an FBI investigation into the consequences of the 2020 elections.

In September, he pressured Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff. Comey and James They have since been indicted on criminal charges.