Israeli President Denies Trump’s Pardon Claim for Netanyahu

Israel’s president has pushed back on Donald Trump’s claim that the two had spoken and that a pardon for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “on its way.”

Herzog’s office has denied that any decision had been made following Netanyahu’s Nov. 30 pardon request. (Photo: יצחק הרצוג - Isaac Herzog Facebook)

Isaac Herzog disputed Trump’s remarks made at Mar-a-Lago while standing beside Netanyahu, who is accused of fraud, breach of trust and bribery — charges he denies. William Vaillancourt reported for The Daily Beast.

Trump said he believed Herzog would issue the pardon, which he has called for at various points this year. “How do you not? He’s a wartime prime minister who’s a hero. How do you not give a pardon?”

Trump said. “I spoke to the president and it’s on — he tells me it’s on its way. You can’t do better than that, right?”

But Herzog’s office denied that any decision had been made following Netanyahu’s Nov. 30 pardon request.

“There has not been a conversation between President Herzog and President Trump since the pardon request was submitted,” his office said, according to CNN. Instead, Herzog’s office said he spoke with a Trump aide and provided “an explanation” of “the stage of the process in which the request currently stands.”

Trump, who is a convicted felon, has labeled Netanyahu’s trial a “witch hunt,” echoing language he used to describe his own past indictments.

In June, Trump called for either the cancellation of the trial or a pardon for his ally, “who has done so much for the state” during the Israel-Iran conflict. However, the Jerusalem District Court declined to delay the proceedings.

The trial, which began in 2020, consists of three separate cases.