The indicted Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, submitted (30.11) a request for a presidential pardon to President Isaac Herzog, demanding, without precedent and without any legal basis, that his criminal trial on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in three separate cases be canceled.

The letter’s content is packed with the usual Netanyahu-style gimmicks, from unrestrained and embarrassing self-aggrandizement (an entire section is devoted to “the prime minister’s immense public contribution to the State of Israel and Israeli society,” with, of course, no mention of the judicial coup or the 7 October disaster) to references to the “fight against Iran.” But above all, it stands out as an almost unvarnished letter of threats.

Netanyahu refuses to admit any wrongdoing and certainly does not express remorse. Instead, he presents an ultimatum: if Herzog does not cancel the trial for him, he will “burn the country down,” as his wife, Sara Netanyahu, once phrased it. In doing so, Netanyahu closes the circle that began with the speech of threats he delivered at the opening of the trial, from the hallway of the district courthouse, in which he declared all-out war on the legal and judicial system.

Sending the request to Herzog marks the peak of an initiative that surfaced and faded over the past few years, and then blossomed again after Netanyahu apparently reached understandings with U.S. President Donald Trump — “a Palestinian state in exchange for a pardon.”

Trump, incapable of discretion, let slip in one of the interviews he gave after his most recent visit to Israel that Netanyahu had asked him to exert pressure on Herzog to grant a pardon. Netanyahu’s part of the deal was apparently the signing of the “21-point agreement,” ending the war, and laying out the roadmap toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.

A Long-Considered Escape Route

A pardon has always been one of Netanyahu’s two escape routes, alongside a plea deal. In the past he even agreed to a plea bargain that would have included an admission of guilt, moral turpitude, and retirement from public life, but did so too late, when the previous Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit, was already nearing the end of his term and refused.

The pardon route is more attractive from Netanyahu’s perspective because it constitutes a legal and historical precedent. Precisely for that reason, it is an unwritten path — one that can, at least in theory, be more easily “invented” in whatever form is most convenient for the defendant, Netanyahu.

The pardon route is more attractive to Netanyahu because it would be a historical and legal precedent — an unwritten path that can, at least in theory, be more easily “invented” in whatever form is most convenient for the defendant, Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu continues to advance his main strategy: total war against the judiciary and law-enforcement system. But he is aware he may fail, especially if he loses the upcoming elections, as all polling indicates.

Once the trial proceeds without the threats and obstruction he can wield as prime minister, and is judged solely on legal grounds, Netanyahu knows that conviction on at least some charges is nearly certain, and that he is likely to spend several years in prison.

His testimony — which has been ongoing for several months and has now proceeded to cross-examination — only underscores more clearly the disaster awaiting him, as he becomes increasingly entangled in a web of contradictions and lies, damaging his credibility before the panel of judges, no matter how intimidated or threatened he may be. In light of this, Netanyahu decided to accelerate the pardon path and sent his closest adviser, Yaakov Bardugo, to prepare the ground for it within the “Bibi base.”

His ongoing testimony, now in the cross-examination stage, has only highlighted the disaster awaiting him, as he becomes increasingly entangled in contradictions and lies, eroding his credibility before the judges - intimidated and threatened as they may be. In light of this, Netanyahu decided to accelerate the pardon path and sent his closest adviser, Yaakov Bardugo, to prepare the ground among the Hard-core "Bibist" political base with his appearances on the propaganda TV channel 14).

Bardugo has spent weeks promoting the idea of a pardon and deflecting criticism within the Bibist camp, long conditioned to believe the big lie about the cases being "fabricated" and that acquittal was guaranteed. Now the letter lays out Netanyahu’s conditions: not admission of guilt or remorse in exchange for a pardon, but rather a pardon in exchange for easing or halting his war on Israeli democracy.

The Gun is on the Table

Already at the opening of the letter, the threat is expressed implicitly, as Netanyahu repeats again and again the claim that his criminal trial has torn the nation apart. The reality, of course, is the opposite. It was Netanyahu who chose not to confront the investigations through legal means, but through political and media warfare, declaring all-out war on law enforcement, the judiciary, the media, and other gatekeepers.

Netanyahu, whose family and advisers run an enormous propaganda apparatus known as "the poison machine," has spent nearly a decade waging a campaign of delegitimization, incitement, and lies against police investigators, prosecutors, the attorney general, the Supreme Court, journalists covering his cases, witnesses testifying against him, major media outlets, the judges in his case, and anyone else connected to his trial.

For many years, Netanyahu has been promoting, at first through proxies, and later personally, the conspiracies of “fabricated cases” and the “deep state.” False conspiracy theories reminiscent of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: the idea that hundreds of people - police investigators, prosecutors at all levels, journalists, dozens of witnesses, his own advisers — have all conspired to invent crimes out of thin air to remove him from power, a role he believes is his divine destiny.

This public campaign is accompanied by a legislative assault launched with the formation of the current government and Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s announcement of the judicial coup. In parallel, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has attempted to carry out a media coup.

The political and public campaign has achieved its main goal: tearing Israel’s social fabric, dividing the nation, and creating a fervent, cult-like loyalist base around Netanyahu that blocks political and social stability.

Netanyahu hints at this in the letter’s opening, writing that granting a pardon "will allow the healing of rifts within the nation, open the door for lowering the flames, all for the sake of strengthening the resilience of the state."

Netanyahu’s Lies

The pardon request contains numerous factual falsehoods. For example, Netanyahu claims that because of a judge’s personal circumstances the trial is proceeding at an unprecedented pace and that most days of the week are dedicated to it — placing a heavy burden on him as prime minister.

This is a triple lie.

First, the trial has proceeded slowly for five years, largely due to the extraordinary leeway given to Netanyahu’s defense team to drag it out indefinitely.

Second, Netanyahu is not required to testify at all and could have avoided doing so if he believed it harmed his ability to function as prime minister.

Third, he is not obligated to serve as prime minister — he could resign. What he is obligated to do is uphold the affidavit submitted by his lawyers stating that the trial would not interfere with his duties.

Netanyahu lies again when he claims that until 2015 "everything was calm," and then suddenly a "flood of endless investigations" began. In reality, Netanyahu and his wife were involved in criminal wrongdoing already during his first term - suspected of stealing gifts worth hundreds of thousands of shekels and charging personal expenses to the state.

A public report by then–Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein substantiated the allegations but decided not to prosecute because Netanyahu’s political career appeared to be over.

"What a Nice Neck You Have, State of Israel"

Yet these lies are merely decorative. The main focus of the letter is its central threat. The theme woven through the entire letter is "healing the nation’s rifts," repeated again and again. Netanyahu writes that "granting a pardon will allow the prime minister to work toward mending the rift in the nation and to deal with additional issues, such as the judiciary and the media — issues he is currently barred from engaging with due to the ongoing trial."

If the mafia-style hint was not clear enough, Netanyahu adds that he has "come to the conclusion" that "the best interests of the State of Israel and its citizens require ending the criminal proceedings."

Elsewhere he writes that ending the trial "will reduce the severe social and public damage, allow mitigation of polarization, advance genuine dialogue, enable the prime minister to advance healing measures, and generally lead to the calm the public so desperately needs."

The implication is clear: Grant me a pardon — or I will continue to inflame and tear apart the nation.

Attached to the formal pardon request is a separate letter signed personally by Netanyahu, acting as a kind of skull-and-crossbones warning, highlighting the message of the request in case it was not explicit enough.

He writes that "in recent years tensions and conflicts between parts of the nation and between state authorities have increased," like a mafia boss writing to the mayor about a wave of arson in local businesses. The rest of the note attributes the "bitter conflicts" around his trial to no one in particular — as if they emerged spontaneously, without a driving hand.

Netanyahu mentions the "public interest" and, of course, the usual phrase: "reconciliation among the people."

"I have no doubt that ending the trial will help lower the flames," concludes the architect of the poison machine. "I am committed to doing everything in my power to mend the rifts, achieve unity, and restore trust in state institutions."

Translated to Bibist-speak: "What a nice neck you have, State of Israel."

This article was published in Hebrew on November 30, 2025