Under suspicion of corruption
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu requests a pardon
November 30, 2025 – 11:56 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
Trials for alleged corruption have been ongoing against the Israeli Prime Minister for a long time. Benjamin Netanyahu has now submitted a request for a pardon to the president.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accused of corruption, has officially asked his country’s president for a pardon. President Izchak Herzog’s office said he had received a formal request for clemency from Netanyahu. It is a letter from Netanyahu and a letter from his lawyer.
The request will now be forwarded to a responsible department of the Ministry of Justice, which will obtain the opinions of all relevant authorities. Based on this, the legal advisory team in the President’s office will then formulate a further opinion.
“The Office of the President is aware that this is an extraordinary request with far-reaching consequences,” the statement continued. “After all relevant comments have been received, the President will examine the request responsibly and diligently.”
US President Donald Trump called on Herzog to pardon Netanyahu. He respects the independence of the Israeli judiciary, but believes that the charges against Netanyahu are politically motivated and unjustified, said a letter signed by Trump to Israel’s president, which Herzog’s office recently published.
A corruption trial has been ongoing against the head of government for years. Among other things, he is accused of accepting luxury gifts worth the equivalent of around 174,000 euros from billionaire friends – jewelry, cigars and pink champagne. In the past, Netanyahu had always rejected all allegations and spoke of a “witch hunt”.
In Israel, there had been repeated debates about pardoning Netanyahu against the background of the serious political upheavals in the country. Herzog had said in the past that no person is above the law, but that he reserves the right to act according to his conscience on the issue. Israel’s opposition had criticized the move.
