Opposition leaders call on Herzog to reject PM’s pardon request, say it harms rule of law

Members of the political opposition call on President Isaac Herzog to reject Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a formal pardon, arguing that ending the premier’s long-running corruption trial would harm the rule of law and allow the premier to evade responsibility for his alleged actions.

In a public video appeal addressed to Herzog, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares that the president “cannot pardon Netanyahu without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse and an immediate retirement from political life.”

The Democrats chair Yair Golan insists that “only the guilty seek a pardon.”

“The only path to unity in the nation is by stopping the machine of hatred and poison, by halting the dismantling of the legal and democratic systems. And this path begins with your resignation and leaving public life in Israel,” Golan says, addressing Netanyahu.

“After six years of trial, after a decade of claiming ‘there is nothing and there will be nothing,’ it now turns out that you are afraid of the truth. The only possible deal is for you to take responsibility, admit guilt, and free the country to breathe and recover,” he argues.

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman accuses Netanyahu of trying to distract the public from pressing issues facing the nation.

“Remember that just five minutes ago there was a war here, a [Haredi draft] evasion law, two hostages who still haven’t returned, a collapsing economy, and skyrocketing food prices? And what about the cover-up committee they’re setting up? Has it all just vanished? We must not let him control the public discourse,” Liberman writes. “Eyes on the goal!”

“Netanyahu is not legally seeking a pardon; he is seeking to end the trial. Therefore, he does not admit guilt and does not express remorse,” says Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi.

The Movement for Quality Government asserts that granting Netanyahu a pardon in the middle of the legal proceedings against him would constitute “a deadly blow to the rule of law and to the principle of equality before the law, the very soul of Israeli democracy.”

“Granting a pardon to a prime minister accused of serious offenses of fraud and breach of trust would send a clear message that some citizens are above the law,” the watchdog group states, calling on Herzog to “stand firm against the pressures and defend Israeli democracy.”