{"id":161490,"date":"2025-12-01T00:08:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T00:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/161490\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T00:08:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T00:08:13","slug":"former-netanyahu-lawyer-says-president-cant-pardon-pm-without-an-admission-of-guilt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/161490\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Netanyahu lawyer says president can’t pardon PM without an admission of guilt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s former defense attorney said the presidential pardon request that Netanyahu submitted on Sunday could not be granted before the premier admitted guilt in his corruption trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cA pardon is given to an offender \u2013 that\u2019s what the law stipulates,\u201d said Micah Fettman in an interview with Channel 12.<\/p>\n

Fettman\u2019s comments came as anti-Netanyahu protesters rallied outside President Isaac Herzog\u2019s home in Tel Aviv, demanding he reject Netanyahu\u2019s pardon request<\/a>. Herzog, for his part, said he was seeking a legal opinion on the pardon request before discussing it, and denied reports that he was currently leaning toward conditionally granting the request, or proposing a plea bargain, provided Netanyahu admits guilt and possibly also leaves politics.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, former prime minister Naftali Bennett \u2014 the lead candidate to replace Netanyahu \u2014 said he would support a presidential pardon for the premier provided he leaves politics.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu is charged with one count of bribery and three counts each of fraud and breach of trust, in three separate cases. The charges relate to allegations of improper manipulation of the press and receiving illicit gifts in return for government favors.<\/p>\n

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The premier\u2019s trial began in May 2020 and is still far from reaching an end. He denies any wrongdoing, and has argued that the charges were fabricated in an attempted political coup by the police and state prosecution.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tMicha Fettman is seen at the Jerusalem District Court, July 10, 2012. (Miriam Alster\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Netanyahu said he would not request a pardon for his corruption trial if it meant admitting guilt. The sweeping 111-page pardon request and appended personal letter he submitted to Herzog on Sunday did not admit guilt or express remorse, while in a video statement Netanyahu continued arguing that the indictment against him was illegitimate and asserted that scrapping it would help \u201cpromote broad reconciliation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fettman, who was on Netanyahu\u2019s defense team for some two months at the start of his trial, noted that pardons in Israel are rarely given before a trial, and said the closest precedent to Netanyahu\u2019s case is the 1984 Bus 300 affair, in which Shin Bet agents executed, and then lied about executing, a pair of Palestinians who tried unsuccessfully to hijack an intercity bus carrying 41 Israelis.<\/p>\n

But even in that case, then-President Chaim Herzog \u2014 father of the current president \u2014 granted the pardon only after the offenders acknowledged guilt, noted Fettman. At the time, Fettman said, the High Court made clear that those acknowledgements were a prerequisite for a pardon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no way on earth\u201d the attorney general or the state prosecution would recommend that the president pardon Netanyahu without such an admission, said Fettman. The few cases in which presidents have issued pardons against Justice Ministry advice involved gravely ill offenders, not sitting prime ministers, he added.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and President Isaac Herzog attend a Memorial ceremony for Ethiopians who died on their journey to Israel, at Mount Herzl, on June 5, 2024 (Arie Leib Abrams\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

If Netanyahu frames his pardon request as being \u201cfor the good of the country,\u201d the president could conclude that Netanyahu himself must accept conditions to serve that goal, including potentially stepping aside from political life, said Fettman, who quit<\/a> Netanyahu\u2019s defense team after the court turned down the premier\u2019s request to receive a gift of NIS10 million ($2.9 million at the time) to cover legal expenses.<\/p>\n

Herzog said leaning toward conditional pardon; president denies<\/p>\n

Hebrew media reported Sunday evening that Herzog may present Netanyahu with a proposal for a plea deal or a conditional bargain that will end his trial. Herzog\u2019s office denied the reports.<\/p>\n

Rather than accepting or rejecting Netanyahu\u2019s request outright, Channel 12 reported that Herzog was leaning toward responding with, \u201cYes, but\u2013\u201d and offering the premier a conditional deal \u2014 potentially involving acknowledgments of wrongdoing, limitations on Netanyahu\u2019s future political activity, or other terms.<\/p>\n

Sources cited by Channel 12 described what they said was a recent softening in Herzog\u2019s stance toward the idea of ending the long-running corruption trial through an agreed framework.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Tel Aviv District Court for his corruption trial, October 15, 2025. (Reuven Kastro\/POOL)<\/p>\n

The report noted that it is difficult to enforce retirement from politics when it is part of a plea deal, as illustrated when Shas leader Aryeh Deri took a deal in 2021 that required him to admit to tax offenses and pledge his resignation from the Knesset, only to return to parliament in the next year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n

The High Court of Justice later ruled that Deri could not hold a position in the cabinet because he had given the impression to the Jerusalem Magistrate\u2019s Court in the plea bargain that he was permanently stepping down from public life. The Shas leader claimed that he had never done so.<\/p>\n

To avoid a similar problem in the future, Channel 12 reported Herzog may consider issuing a conditional pardon, or one that is invalidated should the premier breach its terms.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the Kan public broadcaster reported that even as Herzog examines Netanyahu\u2019s request, he will also be working to revive negotiations for a plea deal. Any such deal, however, would require the prime minister to plead guilty.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tShas leader MK Aryeh Deri after a meeting on the Haredi draft bill, outside the party\u2019s Jerusalem headquarters, June 4, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Kan also quoted unnamed people close to Herzog saying Netanyahu would not get a pardon without paying a \u201csignificant\u201d price.<\/p>\n

An unsourced Channel 13 report \u201cassessed\u201d that Herzog would grant a pardon conditioned on Netanyahu calling early elections; general elections are scheduled for no later than next October.<\/p>\n

The same TV channel also quoted unnamed sources close to Netanyahu saying the prime minister would not negotiate conditions with Herzog: \u201cIt\u2019s all or nothing \u2014 either there\u2019s an unconditional pardon or the prime minister will continue with his trial until he is acquitted,\u201d they reportedly said.<\/p>\n

It is expected to take several weeks for Herzog to submit his response to Netanyahu on the matter.<\/p>\n

A statement published by the Office of the President denied the TV reports, saying that Herzog had not yet discussed the issue. It said Herzog was first seeking a legal opinion on the request, apparently from the Justice Ministry, though the statement did not specify.<\/p>\n

Back from the brink?<\/p>\n

Writing on X hours after other opposition heads slammed Netanyahu\u2019s pardon request, Bennett said a deal conditioned on the premier\u2019s retirement would bring the nation away from the brink.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tFormer prime minister Naftali Bennett speaks during the Israel Information Technology Conference in Ness Ziona, May 5, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

\u201cIn recent years, the State of Israel has been led into chaos and to the brink of a civil war that threatens the very existence of the state,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cIn order to rescue Israel from the chaos, I will support a binding arrangement that includes a respectful retirement from political life alongside the end of the trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat way, we can let it go, unite, and rebuild the state together,\u201d wrote Bennett.<\/p>\n

Speaking outside Herzog\u2019s home, Democrats MK Naama Lazimi, by contrast, assailed Netanyahu\u2019s appeal to national unity in requesting a pardon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way to unity is by kicking out this corrupt, sleazy man from our lives,\u201d said Lazimi.<\/p>\n

Addressing Herzog, she said: \u201cThink very well how you want history to remember you \u2014 as the one who dismantled Israel\u2019s legal system, or as the one who put an end to this craziness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u05d4\u05de\u05d5\u05e7\u05d3: \u05d4\u05e4\u05d2\u05e0\u05d4 \u05de\u05d5\u05dc \u05d1\u05d9\u05ea \u05d4\u05e0\u05e9\u05d9\u05d0: \u05ea\u05d7\u05e4\u05d5\u05e9\u05ea \u05e9\u05dc \u05d4\u05e8\u05e6\u05d5\u05d2 \u05d5”\u05d7\u05e0\u05d9\u05e0\u05d4 = \u05e8\u05e4\u05d5\u05d1\u05dc\u05d9\u05e7\u05ea \u05d1\u05e0\u05e0\u05d5\u05ea” (\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1\u05d9\u05d4 \u05d9\u05d2\u05dc\u05e0\u05d9\u05e7) pic.twitter.com\/RlrKVPab9r<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 \u05d7\u05d3\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05de\u05d5\u05e7\u05d3 (@hamoked_il) November 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

The protest was held under the slogan \u201cPardon = Banana Republic.\u201d Attendees stood behind a large pile of bananas topped by a sign with the word \u201cpardon\u201d on it.\n<\/p>\n

One protester wore a mask of Netanyahu\u2019s face and an orange prison-style jumpsuit. Led by another protester wearing a mask of Herzog\u2019s face and waving an Israeli flag, the crowd chanted, \u201cYou are the leader, you are guilty\u201d \u2014 an anti-Netanyahu slogan referring to his prime ministerial responsibility for the failure to prevent the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023.<\/p>\n

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