How will Netanyahu's dramatic pardon plea play out - and what happens next? - explainer

On Sunday, Netanyahu’s lawyer submitted a detailed legal request to the President’s Residence, reportedly more than 100 pages long, along with a personal letter from Netanyahu.

So what exactly is Netanyahu asking for, what are the legal and political obstacles, and what could happen next? Here is an explainer.

Netanyahu has been on trial in the Jerusalem District Court since May 2020, after being indicted in 2019 in three separate cases known as Case 1000, Case 2000, and Case 4000. He has pleaded not guilty and says the proceedings are a political attempt to oust him.

He is charged with one count of bribery and three counts each of fraud and breach of trust.

Prosecutors say Netanyahu and his wife received luxury items such as cigars, champagne, and jewelry worth around 700,000 shekels (about $210,000) from wealthy businessmen, including Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan, in exchange for various favors such as help with visa and tax issues. Netanyahu says these were gifts between friends and that no quid pro quo was involved.

Netanyahu is accused of discussing a deal with Arnon “Noni” Mozes, publisher of the mass-circulation daily Yedioth Ahronoth. According to recordings, the two allegedly talked about weakening rival free daily Israel Hayom through legislation in return for more favorable coverage of Netanyahu in Yedioth.

No law was ultimately passed, but prosecutors say the talks themselves amount to an illicit attempt to trade regulatory benefits for media support.

This is considered the most serious case. Netanyahu, while serving as communications minister as well as prime minister, is alleged to have granted regulatory benefits worth hundreds of millions of shekels to Bezeq, Israel’s largest telecom company, in exchange for systematically favorable coverage on its news site Walla, which was then controlled by Shaul Elovitch, the main shareholder of Bezeq (full disclosure: Walla is now owned by The Jerusalem Post Group).

This is the only case that includes a bribery charge. Netanyahu refutes any misconduct and asserts that the public interest guided regulatory decisions.

The evidentiary phase of the trial began in May 2020. The prosecution finished presenting its witnesses in mid-2024, and the defense case opened with Netanyahu’s own testimony in December 2024. Legal commentators note that even without a pardon, the trial and any appeals could continue for years.

Trump, who returned to the White House after winning the 2024 election, has been one of Netanyahu’s most outspoken international backers. On November 12, 2025, he took the highly unusual step of sending an official letter from the White House to President Isaac Herzog, urging him to grant Netanyahu a full pardon from the corruption charges.

Herzog's office released the full letter in which Trump referred to the case against Netanyahu as a "political, unjustified prosecution," praised him as a "formidable and decisive wartime prime minister," and stated that "it is time to let Bibi unite Israel by pardoning him and ending that lawfare for good."

The intervention followed a speech Trump gave in the Knesset in October 2025, where he publicly suggested that Herzog should pardon Netanyahu and jokingly downplayed the allegations about “cigars and champagne,” asking, “Who the hell cares?”

Herzog’s office responded by thanking Trump for his support for Israel but stressed that Israel’s justice system is independent and that any pardon request must be formally submitted by the person concerned or their family through the standard procedures of the Justice Ministry’s Pardons Department.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid and other critics accused Trump of inappropriate interference in Israel’s internal legal process and warned that a politically driven pardon could damage public trust in the rule of law.

For months, Netanyahu said publicly that he would not ask for a pardon if it required admitting guilt. He insisted that the trial was “absurd” and a “witch hunt,” and that he would ultimately be acquitted.

In interviews and speeches after Trump’s letter, Netanyahu thanked Trump for his “incredible support” but repeated that he would not plead guilty or accept any arrangement that implied wrongdoing.

On Sunday, Netanyahu reversed course and formally submitted a pardon request to President Herzog. According to Herzog’s office, the application was delivered by Netanyahu’s lawyer, Amit Hadad, and consists of a detailed legal filing (about 100 pages, reported by Israeli media as 111 pages) plus a shorter personal letter signed by Netanyahu. The president's office described it as an "extraordinary request" with significant implications.

Herzog’s office has said that, in line with standard procedure, the request has been transferred to the Justice Ministry’s Pardons Department, which will collect opinions from relevant officials before making a recommendation to the president. Only after that will Herzog make a decision.

In his letter, according to summaries released by Israeli media, Netanyahu does not admit the offenses described in the indictment. Instead, he stresses his “broad public and moral responsibility” and argues that a pardon would serve Israel’s national interest by allowing him to focus fully on security challenges and internal unity while the country is still dealing with the aftermath of October 7 and the Gaza war.

The president of Israel has the constitutional power to grant pardons and commute sentences under the Basic Law: The President of the State. According to Israeli Supreme Court rulings, the president can grant a pardon even before conviction, although in practice this is extremely rare and considered an exceptional step.

The best-known example is the Bus 300 affair in the 1980s, when then-president Chaim Herzog pardoned Shin Bet officials before trial. No law explicitly requires an admission of guilt as a condition for a pardon.

The Israel Democracy Institute notes that while remorse and responsibility often weigh in favor of clemency, a pardon can, in principle, be granted even to someone who maintains their innocence.

However, many Israeli politicians and legal commentators argue that, as a matter of norm and ethical governance, a pardon in a corruption case should usually follow conviction and acknowledge wrongdoing. Lapid, for example, has claimed that admission of guilt and an expression of remorse are a “first condition” for receiving a pardon, though that reflects his interpretation rather than the text of the law itself.

As of Sunday:

Herzog’s office has confirmed receipt of Netanyahu’s request and called it an “extraordinary” step. The Justice Ministry’s Pardons Department is beginning to collect professional opinions, which will then be forwarded to the president’s legal adviser and, ultimately, to Herzog himself. Cross-examination of witnesses continues in Netanyahu's ongoing trial. He remains in office and continues to reject all allegations.

There are several key open questions:

Timing: Israeli law does not set a strict timetable for a presidential decision. Given the sensitivity of the case and the need for legal opinions, the process could take weeks or months.

Pre-verdict pardon: Granting a pardon while the trial is still underway would be legal but highly controversial and could set a far-reaching precedent.

No admission of guilt: Because Netanyahu’s request does not concede the charges, Herzog would have to decide whether granting clemency in such circumstances would undermine public trust in the justice system or, conversely, help stabilize Israeli politics at a time of war and diplomatic pressure.

The debate over Netanyahu’s fate now sits at the intersection of law, politics, and international diplomacy, with Trump’s intervention adding an unprecedented external dimension to what is formally an Israeli constitutional process.