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Israeli leader is accused of receiving hundreds of thousands of pounds of champagne and cigars
Maira ButtMonday 01 December 2025 13:18 GMTComments
CloseNetanyahu comments on request for pardon during his ongoing corruption trial
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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked president Isaac Herzog to pardon him in a bid to end his ongoing corruption trial.
Netanyahu, 76, said “ending the trial immediately would help lower tensions and promote the broad reconciliation our country so desperately needs”.
The proceedings have been stalled throughout Netanyahu’s controversial war in Gaza, with many accusing him of using the conflict as a means of delaying the trial.
Last month, President Donald Trump appealed to Herzog to pardon his ally Netanyahu, calling the case “a political, unjustified prosecution”.
Herzog’s office called the demand “an extraordinary request which carries with it significant implications”.
A presidential pardon before a conviction and without an admission of guilt is extremely rare, and has been granted only once before in Israel.
open image in galleryNetanyahu has been elected five times in Israel (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)What are the charges against Netanyahu?
In 2019, Netanyahu was indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three cases known as 1000, 2000 and 4000. He is the first prime minister to be indicted while in office and has called the case a “witch hunt”.
The leader is accused of receiving expensive gifts from Australian billionaire James Packer and Israeli Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan in exchange for political favours in case 1000. The prosecution has alleged that Netanyahu received cigars and champagne worth $195,000 (£171,000) as well as jewellery for his wife worth $3,100 (£2,300).
Netanyahu is then said to have pushed for tax exemptions for returning citizens, a request that would have benefited Milchan. This was denied by the country’s ministry of finance.
open image in galleryUS president Donald Trump (L) with Benjamin Netanyahu (R) (Reuters)He is also reported to have asked former US Secretary of State John Kerry to help Milchan secure a US visa.
A second case, 2000, focuses on allegations that Netanyahu negotiated a deal with leading daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth for favourable coverage. In a meeting with a controlling shareholder of the company, Arnon Mozes, he is alleged to have promised to limit the circulation of a rival in return.
Case 4000, the most serious, focuses on allegations that the prime minister granted regulatory favours to Israel’s leading telecommunications company, Bezeq, in return for more positive coverage on Walla, a news website belonging to the firm’s owner. The incentives are reported to have been worth $500m (£377m), according to Reuters.
Netanyahu denies all the claims.
open image in galleryNetanyahu took the witness stand in December 2024 (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Could he be pardoned?
A pardon issued without a trial or admission of guilt – otherwise known as a preemptive pardon – would set a historical precedent and be considered highly controversial.
Clemency is usually offered in the years after a conviction, where new evidence or circumstances justify a softening of the original decision. It is not used as a way to evade trial or punishment.
The only exception to this rule in Israel relates to the case of senior Shin Bet officials in the capture, killing and cover-up of two people accused of terrorism in 1986. The case has left a legacy of lasting controversy.
Earlier this month, the Israel Democracy Institute said: “As a rule, the president reviews a pardon request only after all legal proceedings have ended. The possibility of a pre-conviction pardon… is extremely rare.”
It continued: “A pardon before conviction, while legal proceedings are ongoing, threatens the rule of law and seriously undermines the principle of equality before the law.”
open image in galleryA protest against Netanyahu held in Israel over decision to dismiss Shin Bet leader (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)How long will he remain PM?
Netanyahu was re-elected for a fifth time in November 2022, as head of the right-wing Likud party. Elections are due to be held in Israel in October 2026, and the prime minister has so far avoided calls for an earlier vote.
He is the fourth world leader to be issued with an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity alongside Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.
Over 70,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of Israel’s brutal invasion, which came in response to the killing of more than 1,200 people in Israel by Hamas in the 7 October, 2023 attacks. A US-brokered ceasefire came into effect in October this year, but the political future of Gaza is still being negotiated and reports of violence have persisted.
Earlier this year the UN concluded that Israel committing a genocide in the Strip after a two-year investigation, which the state has denied and called “false” and “distorted”.
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