Associates of President Isaac Herzog explored the possibility of granting a pardon to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before he was elected president and prior to Netanyahu’s indictment, according to a report by Israel’s Channel 12 published Tuesday.
The report published a 17-page Hebrew-language legal opinion that was allegedly drawn up by associates of Herzog in 2019, while he was still heading the Jewish Agency for Israel.
A former associate of Herzog’s told Channel 12 News that the president requested the legal opinion out of political considerations, not professional ones, as part of a deal to receive Netanyahu and the Likud’s support during the presidential election.
According to the report, Herzog reached out to then-President Reuven Rivlin, as well as to Netanyahu himself, in a bid to reach an agreement on a deal that would see the yet-to-be-indicted Netanyahu receive a pardon in exchange for retiring from public life.
Those discussions were allegedly led by businessman Moti Sender, a close associate of Herzog’s, who tasked a senior lawyer, Eyal Rozovsky, with putting together the legal opinion.
Herzog’s office denied the report.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left), President Issac Herzog (center), and Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana (right) attend a session of the Knesset plenum in October. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left), President Issac Herzog (center), and Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana (right) attend a session of the Knesset plenum in October. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi
Not long after the opinion was drawn up, Netanyahu was indicted on three criminal charges: bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The legal proceedings in his case began in May 2020. Herzog was elected in June 2021 and assumed office a month later.
Last week, Netanyahu submitted a formal request to President Isaac Herzog for a pardon in his corruption trial.
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The opinion relies on the 1984 Bus 300 affair, during which the current president’s father, President Chaim Herzog, pardoned Shin Bet officials involved in covering up the killing of two captured terrorists.
The report says the opinion concluded that granting an early pardon would require agreement and cooperation from all legal authorities, first and foremost the attorney general.
According to the opinion, a panel of High Court judges is “expected to approve a clear decision by the president” on the matter of a pardon. It also points to the importance of cooperation with the attorney general’s endorsement and the wording of the pardon itself.
The President’s Office called the allegations “baseless,” adding that the “freedom of expression doesn’t justify publishing such shocking and false things about the President of Israel.” Herzog’s office added that the president tasked his lawyer with initiating legal proceedings “against all the reckless slanderers.”
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Presidents of Israel are elected in a secret ballot by the Knesset, necessitating an absolute majority. In the 2021 election, Herzog – who led the center-left Zionist Union political alliance in the 2015 Knesset elections – received 87 votes, besting Israel Prize recipient Miriam Peretz, who received 26 votes.
The Likud didn’t officially throw its support behind any of the candidates, with then-chair of the Likud party’s Knesset faction, Miki Zohar, telling lawmakers to vote their conscience.
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A demonstrator holds a sign showing President Isaac Herzog with the words “No pardon” in Jerusalem, December. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi
A demonstrator holds a sign showing President Isaac Herzog with the words “No pardon” in Jerusalem, December. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi
In response to the report, prominent anti-judicial coup activists canceled a planned meeting with Herzog regarding a potential pardon for Netanyahu, Haaretz has learned.
The activists said that until the report’s details are clarified, the president should direct Netanyahu to file his request with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. “We believe Netanyahu’s request to the president amounts to extortion of the State of Israel by the man who leads it,” they said. “Anyone who agrees to it will bear a mark of disgrace.”
Sources told Haaretz that Herzog had intended to use the meeting to soften the protest movement’s opposition to the pardon request.