US President Donald Trump said Thursday that President Isaac Herzog “should be ashamed of himself” for not granting a pardon to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is standing trial for alleged fraud, bribery and breach of trust.
Trump has been calling for Netanyahu to be pardoned since June 2025, but Monday was the first time he attacked Herzog for not granting one to the premier.
The comments came a day after Trump met Netanyahu in the White House, leading to speculation that the Israeli premier raised the issue during their sit-down.
Asked by reporters at the White House whether Netanyahu is responsible for the security failures that allowed Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack to unfold, Trump responded, “I guess everybody’s responsible,” before noting that it was a “sneak attack” that “nobody else would have seen coming.”
He went on to again hail Netanyahu as “a very good wartime prime minister,” touting their joint successes against Iran before turning his aim to Herzog.
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“You have a president [who] refused to give him a pardon… [He] should be ashamed of himself,” Trump said.
US President Donald Trump makes an announcement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC on February 12, 2026. (SAUL LOEB / AFP)
“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.
“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, insisting that — contrary to Trump’s claims — the Israeli president has not made a decision 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.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Tel Aviv District Court to testify in his criminal trial, January 27, 2025. (Yariv Katz/POOL)
While hosting Netanyahu in December, Trump claimed that he spoke 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 spoke 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.
Activists protest outside a court hearing in the trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, calling not to grant him a pardon, December 1, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
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 planned to make a decision on pardoning 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.
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