Netanyahu submits to the Israeli president an official request for his pardon in connection with the corruption cases that are pursuing him

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial in three corruption cases, said Sunday that he had applied for a pardon, stressing that his years-long trial was leading to internal divisions.

US President Donald Trump sent a letter to his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog this month asking him to pardon Netanyahu, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in three cases against him.

“The trial in my case has been going on for about six years, and it is expected to continue for many more years,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.

He added that he would have liked the trial to continue until he was acquitted, “but the security and political realities – the national interest – dictate otherwise… The State of Israel faces enormous challenges”.

“The continuation of the trial is tearing us apart from within, provoking sharp divisions and deepening the rift,” he said.

The cases against Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister at intermittent intervals, have exposed divisions within Israeli society between his supporters and opponents, with his supporters rejecting long-running trials as politicized and yet to be sentenced.

In one case, Netanyahu and his wife Sara are accused of receiving luxury gifts worth more than $260,000, including champagne, cigars and jewelry from billionaires in exchange for political favors.

In two other cases, Netanyahu is accused of trying to negotiate positive media coverage from two Israeli media outlets.

Netanyahu said Sunday that his requirement to testify three times a week was an impossible demand.

“I am confident, as many in the nation believe, that an immediate end to the trial will go a long way in reducing tensions and promoting the broad reconciliation that our country so desperately needs,” he said.

Herzog’s office confirmed that it had received the pardon request from Netanyahu, saying in a statement: “The president’s office is aware that this request is exceptional and has significant consequences… After receiving all relevant views, the Chair will consider the request responsibly and honestly”.

The Israeli opposition on Sunday called on President Isaac Herzog not to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without him withdrawing from political life.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said in a video speech broadcast on X: “I appeal to President Herzog… You cannot grant a pardon to Netanyahu without pleading guilty, showing remorse, and immediately withdrawing from political life”.

The leader of the opposition Democratic Party, Yair Golan, wrote on X: “Only the guilty ask for amnesty… After eight years of the trial, and when the cases against him haven’t collapsed, Netanyahu is asking for a pardon”.

Golan added, “The only possible deal is for Netanyahu to take responsibility, admit guilt, leave politics and liberate the people and the state… Only in this way will unity among the people be achieved”.

Netanyahu, (76) spent more than 18 years as prime minister for three terms since 1996.

During his current term, which began in late 2022, Netanyahu proposed wide-ranging judicial reforms that his opponents say sought to weaken the judiciary to the expense of the executive.

The reforms sparked mass protests that stopped only after the outbreak of the Gaza war following the Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023.

Netanyahu, the leader of the Likud party, confirmed that he would run in the next elections scheduled for before the end of 2026.