President Isaac Herzog said Thursday that he will review Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a pardon — effectively seeking to halt his trial — but stressed that Israel’s judicial process must be respected despite public appeals from U.S. President Donald Trump.
In an interview with Politico conducted before Netanyahu formally submitted the request, Herzog said the prime minister “has to submit an application,” adding that once received, “I will deal with it with utter seriousness.” After Netanyahu submitted the petition, the interviewer, Felicia Schwartz, contacted Herzog again for comment.
“My office has now received the request for a pardon, as you know,” Herzog said. “There is a process which goes through the Justice Ministry and my legal adviser and so on. This is certainly an extraordinary request and above all when dealing with it I will consider what is the best interest of the Israeli people. The well-being of the Israeli people is my first, second and third priority.”
Herzog was asked whether the precedent set by his father — former president Chaim Herzog, who granted a preemptive pardon to Shin Bet officials in the 1980s Bus 300 Affair — provided any guidance. “Everybody understands that any pre-emptive pardon has to be considered on the merits,” he said. “There are many, many issues to discuss. On the one hand, the full equality under the law, or in front of the law, as we say in Israel. And on the other hand, of course, the unique circumstances of each and every case.”
Asked about Trump’s public call for Netanyahu to be pardoned, Herzog replied: “I respect President Trump’s friendship and his opinion. Why? Because as I tell many Israelis, it is the same President Trump we begged and asked to bring back our hostages and who led bravely an enormous step to bring back our hostages and get the U.N. Security Council resolution through. But Israel, naturally, is a sovereign country, and we fully respect the Israeli legal system and its requirements.”
Pressed on whether he fears a backlash from Trump should he refuse Netanyahu’s request, Herzog declined to answer directly. “I really don’t think I should discuss such an issue publicly,” he said. “Our relations with President Trump and with his administration are warm, frank and open. We should see it in the right context, and not immediately go to all sorts of doomsday analysis.”
Herzog was also asked about his earlier remark that his presidency has been the most difficult in Israel’s history. He cited a succession of crises: beginning his term during the COVID-19 pandemic, then facing the upheaval over the judicial overhaul that split the country, followed by the current war, which is still ongoing.
Herzog said he and his wife have met with 1,500 bereaved families since the fighting began. “I’m not talking about the enormous pain we’ve endured with the hostages,” he said. “Thank God the live ones are back, but there is still one missing. The enormous amount of wounded and post-traumatic stress and the inner tensions among all of the members of our society.”
He added that political tensions have re-emerged atop the wartime trauma. “The emotional weight that I carry on my shoulders is huge,” Herzog said, “but I’m very proud of it that God gave me this role at this moment, to be there for Israel in its most difficult hour.”