President Isaac Herzog said Friday that Israel’s “dignity, independence and sovereignty” are not for sale, after US President Donald Trump on Wednesday called him “weak and pathetic” in his handling of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a pardon in his corruption trial.
Netanyahu was asked about the insults during a press conference Thursday night, and said that “US presidents are entitled to say what’s in their hearts,” while blasting the trial as a political witch hunt.
The prime minister should have pushed back on Trump, Herzog indicated.
“There is a difference between political and legal disagreements that have continued for decades on various issues — even with our allies — and a blatant attack on the symbols of governance and sovereignty of the State of Israel,” said Herzog. “A statement must be said on this issue.”
The usually staid head of state intimated that Trump’s repeated insults over the pardon request are “a blatant attack on the symbols of governance and sovereignty of the State of Israel.”
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“I am not seeking my own honor, but the honor of the state,” he said at the site of an Iranian missile strike in the Bedouin town of Zarzir. “Our dignity, independence and sovereignty are not for sale to anyone.”
US President Donald Trump speaks at a Women’s History Month event in the East Room at the White House, on March 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
“I will, of course, address the request for a pardon when it arrives, in the most independent and free manner — without pressure and without noise from any direction — with a clear mind and clean hands,” he said.
On Wednesday, Trump said Herzog was “full of crap” for insisting that he could not come to a decision about the premier’s pardon request before receiving a recommendation from the Justice Ministry.
“He doesn’t need any legal opinions,” Trump said. “He is full of crap. He is a weak and pathetic guy. I want Bibi [Netanyahu] to be focused on the war — not on bullshit.”
Netanyahu is on trial in three corruption cases, facing charges of bribery, as well as fraud and breach of trust, after being indicted in 2020. He has consistently denied wrongdoing, claiming he has been framed by the police and state prosecution.
Trump has repeatedly blasted Herzog for not pardoning the prime minister. The US president has also repeatedly claimed that Herzog promised Trump he would grant Netanyahu a pardon, something the Israeli president’s office has denied.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Tel Aviv District Court to testify in his criminal trial, January 27, 2025. (Yariv Katz/POOL)
The High Court of Justice has previously ruled that pardons can, in theory, be issued before a conviction, but only when the person making the request has admitted to the crimes for which they have asked to be pardoned. Such an admission can be seen as a kind of de facto conviction, allowing the president to issue a pardon.
The Justice Ministry announced Wednesday that the pardons department had completed its legal position paper on Netanyahu’s request and passed it to Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, after Justice Minister Yariv Levin recused himself due to a potential conflict of interest.
In its position paper, the Pardons Department determined that it was extremely problematic to grant Netanyahu a pardon since his trial is ongoing and he has not yet been convicted, and he did not admit guilt or express remorse for his actions in his pardon request.
The president accepts the recommendations of the Pardons Department in the large majority of cases, although he does have the discretion to reject its advice.
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