Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday asked President Isaac Herzog to pardon him for bribery and fraud charges to end his five-year corruption trial.
Netanyahu is facing three separate corruption cases filed in 2019: Case 1000, Case 2000, and Case 4000, which involve allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
Here is what we know:
What is Netanyahu’s argument?
Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing and claims the corruption trial is a “deep state” conspiracy, a politically orchestrated “witch-hunt” by rivals and the media.
He has also argued that if he is pardoned, he will be able to strengthen Israel at a tumultuous time for the Middle East.
The Israeli PM’s submission comes weeks after United States President Donald Trump urged Herzog to pardon Netanyahu.
Netanyahu’s 111-page pardon request submitted to Herzog’s office refers to Trump’s earlier request.
Analysts and observers posit that in his efforts to avoid the trials and possible conviction, Netanyahu has been extending and expanding Israel’s genocidal assault on the besieged Gaza Strip.
Would Netanyahu have to admit guilt to be pardoned?
In his pardon request, Netanyahu does not admit guilt or wrongdoing.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said Netanyahu cannot be granted a pardon “without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse, and an immediate retirement from political life”.
However, legally, an admission of guilt is not required, Dana Blander, a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, wrote in an article. Legally, there are no conditions for a pardon.
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The pardon request will first be reviewed by the Ministry of Justice’s pardons department, which will send its opinion to Herzog’s office.
While the president usually follows the ministry’s recommendation, he is not required to do so.
Herzog has previously said he sees a negotiated settlement between prosecutors and Netanyahu’s legal team as the most effective way to conclude this legal matter.
How have Israeli leaders and people reacted?
Israelis protested outside Herzog’s home in Tel Aviv on Sunday night against Netanyahu’s pardon petition, joined by opposition politicians, including Naama Lazimi.
Herzog and Netanyahu are former political rivals, but they have a good working relationship.
“After receiving all of the relevant opinions, the president will responsibly and sincerely consider the request,” a statement from Herzog’s office said in response to the pardon request.
“He basically says, ‘I’m completely innocent,’” Yohanan Plesner, president of The Israel Democracy Institute, told The Associated Press news agency.
“So there is no assumption of responsibility … this might project a problematic message to all public figures and to what our public norms might look like.”
What is Netanyahu accused of?
Here’s a breakdown:
Case 1000, the ‘Gifts Affair’
Netanyahu was charged in 2019, while he was prime minister, with fraud and breach of trust during his tenure as minister of communications from 2014 to 2017.
The charges say Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, received lavish gifts worth nearly $200,000, including champagne and cigars, from two wealthy businessmen in exchange for political favours.
The businessmen are Israeli Hollywood film producer Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer.
Milchan testified that he provided gifts to Netanyahu in June 2020. Packer was also implicated as having shared the costs of these expensive gifts with Milchan.
Netanyahu is accused of advancing Milchan’s interests by helping him secure a US visa renewal by lobbying US officials on his behalf. He is also accused of advancing a tax exemption law that could have benefitted Israelis abroad, like Milchan.
As for Packer, media reports claimed that he was making big investments in Israel, and his lawyers had inquired about Israeli citizenship or residency for the billionaire, which would have benefitted him tax-wise.
Fraud and breach of trust can carry prison sentences of up to three years, while bribery can carry up to 10 years and/or a fine.
The goods were valued at approximately 700,000 shekels ($186,000), according to a statement made by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit following the indictment.
Case 2000, the ‘Netanyahu-Mozes affair’
This case also charges him with fraud and breach of trust, saying Netanyahu made a deal with businessman Aron Mozes, a controlling shareholder of the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, which was critical of Netanyahu.
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The alleged deal was for favourable coverage of Netanyahu in exchange for legislation to slow the growth of the rival Israel Hayom newspaper, which had overtaken Yedioth Ahronoth. A legislative bill was being considered that would have limited Israel Hayom’s circulation.
The indictment summary said, despite “a profound rivalry” between the two men, they conducted three series of meetings between 2008 and 2014.
During these meetings, Netanyahu and Mozes “engaged in discussions regarding the promotion of their common interests: improving the coverage that Mr. Netanyahu received in the ‘Yedioth Ahronoth’ media group; and the imposition of restrictions on the ‘Israel Hayom’ newspaper”, the indictment said.
Case 4000, the ‘Bezeq affair’
This case indicts Netanyahu for granting regulatory favours to Israeli telecommunications company Bezeq in return for positive coverage on Walla, a news website controlled by its former chairman.
Netanyahu, communications minister at the time, allegedly provided regulatory benefits to Shaul Elovitch, the owner of Bezeq, who also controlled the news website Walla.
The benefits reportedly included mergers and financial gains. In exchange, Elovitch provided favourable coverage of Netanyahu and his wife.
Netanyahu “dealt on several occasions with regulatory matters pertaining to Mr Elovitch, and took specific actions that promoted significant business interests of Mr Elovitch of substantial financial value”, the indictment summary said.
Besides fraud and breach of trust, Netanyahu has been charged with bribery in this case.
What other Israeli politicians were charged with corruption?
Since 1996, every Israeli prime minister has been the subject of a corruption investigation.
1996-99
Netanyahu, in his first term as prime minister, was investigated for reasons including a kickback scheme and influence peddling.
1999-2001
Prime Minister Ehud Barak was investigated on allegations of illegal campaign financing, bribery and money laundering.
2001-06
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the late 1990s in what came to be known as the Greek Island affair.
2006-09
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was convicted of taking $430,000 in bribes while he was mayor of Jerusalem. He was imprisoned in February 2016 for fraud, breach of trust, falsifying corporate records, and tax evasion.
2009-21
Netanyahu returned to the premiership. During this period, he was charged with the cases above, while two other cases against him were dropped.
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