The US president tells reporters that Isaac Herzog should be \u2018ashamed\u2019 for not pardoning Netanyahu\u2019s bribery charges.<\/p>\n
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Donald Trump has upped his pressure against Israel\u2019s President Isaac Herzog as he seeks a pardon for his ally, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing bribery charges.<\/p>\n
The United States president told reporters on Thursday that the Israeli prime minister has been an \u201cextraordinary\u201d wartime leader. He then condemned Herzog for failing to offer Netanyahu presidential clemency.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou have a president that refuses to give him a pardon. I think that man should be ashamed of himself,\u201d Trump said of Herzog.<\/p>\n
He added that Israelis should pressure Herzog to grant the pardon to Netanyahu.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s disgraceful for not giving it. He should give it,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
The comments come a day after Trump hosted Netanyahu<\/a> at the White House \u2014 their seventh meeting since the US president returned to power last year.<\/p>\n Netanyahu has been accused of receiving lavish gifts as bribes and considering deals with media outlets in exchange for favourable coverage of his government.<\/p>\n His first trial started<\/a> in 2020, but the legal proceedings have been repeatedly disrupted by the geopolitical upheaval in the region, including Israel\u2019s genocidal war in Gaza.<\/p>\n The US has previously called on Herzog \u2014 whose role is largely ceremonial \u2014 to grant amnesty to Netanuahu, a power allocated to Israel\u2019s presidents.<\/p>\n But with Thursday\u2019s rebuke, Trump appears to be asserting himself directly in the country\u2019s domestic politics.<\/p>\n The push for pardoning Netanyahu highlights the exceptional ties between Trump and Netanyahu, two right-wing politicians who have demonstrated a remarkable ability to survive scandals and legal problems.<\/p>\n Trump has previously petitioned Herzog for a pardon in public, most notably from behind the lectern of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, last October.<\/p>\n