From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Netanyahu: Corruption charges are ‘bogus,’ pardon doesn’t require me to admit guilt
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls his corruption charges “bogus,” accuses the prosecution of seeking to oust him from office, and claims that receiving a pardon in his trial does not require him to admit guilt, in an interview at a conference hosted by The New York Times.
The remarks come days after Netanyahu formally requested a pardon from President Isaac Herzog in his years-long trial for fraud, bribery and breach of trust.
Speaking via video at the publication’s DealBook Summit, Netanyahu says prosecutors have pursued the case over the course of years in order to remove him as prime minister.
“So they kept on going because they don’t want justice, they want me out of office,” he says, adding later, “This trial is just collapsed, it’s become a joke.”
He claims that “in our system, when you ask for a pardon, you’re not admitting to any guilt, you don’t have to, and I don’t.” Legal scholars have questioned that claim, and the premier’s critics say he must admit guilt as part of receiving a pardon.
He declines to detail what he and US President Donald Trump discussed regarding the trial in their recent phone call. Trump has repeatedly called for Netanyahu to be pardoned.
The Times of Israel Community.