Israeli President Issac Herzog on Monday (Dec 01) said he would think about what is in the country’s “best interests” when he considers Prime Minister Benjamin Netynayahu’s request seeking a pardon on Corruption charges.
However, Netynayahu’s former defence attorney noted that the president can only grant a pardon after admission of guilt. The Israeli Prime Minister long maintained that he had not done anything wrong.
The issue is “clearly provoking debate and is deeply unsettling for many people in the country, across different communities”, Herzog said in a statement, reported AFP. “I will consider solely the best interests of the State of Israel and Israeli society,” he added.
The statement comes a day after Benjamin Netanyahu submitted a formal pardon request to President Issac Herzog, saying that long-running cases were tearing the country apart.
The Israeli Prime Minister is facing three separate cases of corruption filed against him in 2019, including allegations of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
“The trial in my case has been ongoing for nearly six years, and is expected to continue for many more years,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, adding that “The continuation of the trial is tearing us apart from within, arousing fierce divisions, intensifying rifts.”
Israeli PM stated that he wanted to get acquitted after facing the full trial, “but the security and political reality, the national interest, dictate otherwise. The State of Israel is facing enormous challenges”.
Netanyahu cited the time constraints while fulfilling his duties during extraordinary times as a reason for his inability to stand trials, saying that the demand for him to testify on a thrice-weekly basis had “tipped the scales”. “Three times a week is an impossible requirement,” he said.
Trump comes to his friend Bibi’s rescue
The pardon request follows a letter sent on November 12 by US President Donald Trump urging President Isaac Herzog to Pardon Benjamin Netanyahu. He formally wrote a letter to the Israeli head of state seeking a pardon for Bibi.
Trump had earlier made a similar appeal. In October, during his address to the Israeli Parliament, the US President called on President Herzog to pardon Benjamin Netanyahu. “Hey, I have an idea. Mr President, why don’t you grant him a pardon?”