Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a pardon from President Isaac Herzog in his corruption case has sparked a new debate over whether the power of pardon can be used without an admission of guilt.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu’s former lawyer, Micah Fettman, stated that under Israeli law, a pardon can only be granted to a person who admits their guilt. Fettman said, “A pardon is only given to the guilty; the law clearly states this.”<\/p>\n
Former lawyer: Law requires admission of guilt<\/strong><\/p>\n Fettman emphasized that it is extremely rare in Israel for a pardon to be granted before a trial concludes.<\/p>\n He pointed to the Bus 300 affair of 1984 as the closest precedent. In that incident, Shin Bet agents who killed two Palestinians were pardoned by then-President Chaim Herzog.<\/p>\n Fettman recalled that even in that case, the pardon was granted only after the agents admitted their guilt, and the High Court of Justice confirmed this admission as a precondition.<\/p>\n Fettman stated that it would be “impossible” for the attorney general’s office to support a pardon without Netanyahu admitting his guilt.<\/p>\n Presidency denies ‘conditional pardon’ claims<\/strong><\/p>\n President Isaac Herzog’s office has denied media reports that it was preparing to offer Netanyahu a pardon deal on the condition that he “admits his guilt and withdraws from politics.”<\/p>\n The statement noted that Herzog has not yet addressed the matter and is awaiting a legal opinion first.<\/p>\n Israel’s Channel 12 had claimed that instead of outright rejecting the request, Herzog was considering an offer that included conditions such as withdrawing from politics.<\/p>\n It is estimated that the presidency’s response to the pardon request could take several weeks.<\/p>\n Varying reactions from politicians<\/strong><\/p>\n While Netanyahu’s political rivals reacted negatively to the pardon request, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett took a different position.<\/p>\n Bennett said he would support a pardon on the condition that Netanyahu withdraws from politics completely, stating that such a deal would “pull the country back from the brink of the abyss.”<\/p>\n Meanwhile, anti-Netanyahu protesters gathered in front of President Herzog’s residence in Tel Aviv, demanding that the pardon request be rejected.<\/p>\n Netanyahu continues to deny the charges<\/strong><\/p>\n Prime Minister Netanyahu is on trial in three separate cases on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.<\/p>\n Netanyahu, who has described the trial that began in May 2020 as a “political coup attempt,” denies all charges.<\/p>\n The 111-page pardon application submitted to Herzog contains no statement of Netanyahu admitting guilt or expressing remorse.<\/p>\n In a video message he released, Netanyahu also argued that the indictment was “not legitimate.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a pardon from President Isaac Herzog in his corruption case has sparked a new debate over whether the power of pardon can be used without an admission of guilt. Netanyahu’s former lawyer, Micah Fettman, stated that under Israeli law, a pardon can only be granted to a person […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14548,1138,14550,3554,14551,364,812,8288,14549,223,14547,6789],"class_list":["post-12413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middleeast","tag-admission-of-guilt","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-bus-300-affair","tag-corruption-trial","tag-high-court-of-justice","tag-isaac-herzog","tag-israel","tag-israeli-law","tag-micah-fettman","tag-naftali-bennett","tag-presidential-pardon","tag-shin-bet"],"yoast_head":"\n