[Regnum] US President Donald Trump once again called on Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid ongoing legal proceedings against him. The American leader stated this in an interview with Israeli state broadcaster Kan on May 3.
"Israel wouldn't exist if it weren't for me and Bibi (Netanyahu – Ed.), in that order. You need a prime minister who can focus on war, not nonsense," the US president said.
Trump also called Netanyahu a "wartime prime minister" and noted that, together with him, Washington had managed to "do a great job" in the Middle East.
Israeli President Herzog previously stated that instead of pardoning Prime Minister Netanyahu in the corruption case, he intends to force him to plead guilty. The Israeli prime minister is facing several criminal corruption charges. The investigation began in 2016, and in 2019, he was formally charged with, among other things, accepting valuable gifts from businessmen and assisting the telecommunications group Bezeq in exchange for favorable media coverage.
Netanyahu has pleaded not guilty. However, he has repeatedly sought postponements from testifying in court, citing the difficult situation in the country, which requires his personal involvement in national security matters.
On November 30, Netanyahu petitioned the Israeli president for clemency, arguing that ending the trials was necessary to strengthen national unity. US President Donald Trump supported this initiative. He sent a letter to Herzog urging him to consider the pardon and calling Netanyahu's prosecution politically motivated.
| Poor President Herzog, a paler copy of his eminent father, was the leader of the labour socialists when he lost the 2015 election against Bibi, despite President Obama putting his thumb heavily on the scale — and then Bibi continued remaking Israel society and pretty consistently winning elections ever since, despite all the protests and legal and political nonsense the Left has tried throwing at him. The powerless figurehead office of president really is no consolation prize for an inappropriately proud man… |
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