From the Liveblog of
Sunday, November 30, 2025
Gantz: Netanyahu using pardon request to distract from Haredi draft exemption law
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Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of using his request for a pardon from President Isaac Herzog to divert public attention from his effort to pass contentious legislation widely exempting Haredi men from military conscription.
“Netanyahu knows that this request for a pardon, which does not align with the accepted process in Israel, is a complete fake meant to divert the public’s attention from the draft-exemption law he is promoting at the expense of our children,” Gantz writes on X.
“He’s behaving like a firefighter who starts a fire and then demands protection money to put it out.
“Netanyahu: Instead of fanning the flames, put out the fire you created in Israeli society, stop harming democracy, go to elections, and only then request a plea deal or a pardon.”
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