Netanyahu didn’t push Trump to slam Herzog over pardon, PM’s office claims

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement Saturday night distancing the premier from US President Donald Trump’s public rebuke of President Isaac Herzog days earlier for not yet issuing a pardon for Netanyahu in his corruption trial.

Hours earlier, Herzog’s office was said to be seeking clarification from Netanyahu as to whether the latter had encouraged the move.

Continuing a series of unusual public remarks about an internal Israeli matter, Trump on Thursday called Herzog “disgraceful” and said he should be “ashamed of himself” for not granting a pardon to Netanyahu, who is standing trial for alleged fraud, bribery and breach of trust. Herzog’s office noted in response that the legal procedure for him to consider the request has not yet been completed.

Trump’s comments came a day after he met Netanyahu in the White House, leading to speculation that the prime minister had raised the issue during their sit-down.

“If Netanyahu had a hand in this, it is a red line that has been crossed. We expect clarification on the part of the prime minister,” a source close to Herzog told several Hebrew media outlets Saturday evening.

The source further noted that Herzog had been “surprised” by Trump’s statement, and called it a blow not just to the Israeli president but to “the sovereign status of the State of Israel.”

A few hours later, a statement sent out by the Prime Minister’s Office and attributed to a “source” in the office said Trump’s remarks had been “entirely his own initiative.”

“The prime minister learned about it from the media and had no prior knowledge of it, just as he had no prior knowledge of the president’s remarks on this issue in his speech in the Knesset,” said the statement, referring to another time Trump raised the issue in public.

Trump has been calling for Netanyahu to be pardoned since June 2025, but Thursday was the first time he attacked Herzog for not having done so.

“You have a president [who] refused to give him a pardon… [He] should be ashamed of himself,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

“The primary power he’s got is… to give pardons, and he’s not. He said he’s given it five different times, but he doesn’t want to do it because, I guess he loses his power,” Trump said, without elaborating or explaining.

“I think the people of Israel should really shame him. He’s disgraceful for not giving it,” the US president added.

Herzog’s office quickly responded on Thursday, saying that — contrary to Trump’s claims — the Israeli president has not decided on whether to grant Netanyahu a pardon.

This is because the matter is still being reviewed by the Justice Ministry, which has to provide a legal opinion before the president can make a decision, the statement from Herzog’s office said.

“Only upon completion of that process will President Herzog consider the request in accordance with the law, the best interests of the State of Israel, guided by his conscience, and without any influence from external or internal pressures of any kind,” the statement added.

“President Herzog deeply appreciates President Trump for his significant contribution to the State of Israel and its security. Israel is a sovereign state governed by the rule of law,” the statement added, cautiously suggesting that Trump was trying to infringe on Israel’s sovereignty while insisting that Herzog would not allow that to occur.

While hosting Netanyahu in December, Trump claimed that he had spoken with Herzog about the issue and that the Israeli president told him a pardon was “on its way.”

The claim was quickly denied by Herzog, who said the pair had not spoken recently and that no decision about a pardon had been made.

Herzog’s office said at the time that he had spoken several weeks earlier with “a representative on behalf of President Trump, who inquired about the US president’s letter,” referring to a November letter Trump sent to Herzog formally urging him to pardon Netanyahu.

During that conversation, “an explanation was provided regarding the stage of the process in which the request currently stands, and that any decision on the matter will be made in accordance with the established procedures,” Herzog’s office added.

Trump has waged a very public campaign on Netanyahu’s behalf, publicly urging Herzog to pardon the prime minister during a speech at the Knesset in October 2025.

Weeks later, Trump sent a letter to Herzog in which he formally made the request, dismissing the legal case against Netanyahu and insisting that pardoning him would unite the country.

Herzog then reiterated that he could only consider a pardon if Netanyahu submits a request, leading the premier’s lawyers to do so at the end of November in a filing that notably did not include any admission of guilt.

Speaking a day after receiving the request, Herzog said that he would handle it “in the most proper and precise way. I will consider only the good of the country and Israeli society.”

While Herzog reportedly initially planned to decide whether to pardon Netanyahu within weeks, urgency on the matter has appeared to wane.

Given that the trial is still ongoing, some legal experts argue that Herzog does not even have the authority to grant a pardon at this stage.

But the trial against Netanyahu has gone on for nearly six years and is expected to last several more, not including a likely appeal.