Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s request to President Isaac Herzog for a pardon on Sunday caused a furor in Israel.
Predictably, while right-wing politicians supported Netanyahu’s request for a pardon, decrying the trumped-up charges against Netanyahu, which have not only completely collapsed in court but have also exposed severe crimes committed by prosecutors and investigators in the cases.
However, leftist and even centrist politicians—the entire “anti-Bibi” camp—slammed the request, making absurd claims, such as that of Benny Gantz, who claimed that Netanyahu asked for a pardon to deflect attention from the Chareidi draft law issue.
Gantz said this despite knowing, like all Israelis, that the cases have collapsed and that the chief prosecutor who led the witch hunt against Netanyahu resigned shortly after judges in the courtroom scoffed at the charge of bribery against Netanyahu in Case 4000. Additionally, a senior police investigator who was part of the prosecution team against Netanyahu was arrested for serious alleged crimes, including bribery, fraud, breach of trust, and violations of the Privacy Protection Law.
The most staunch leftists are preparing for a campaign against President Isaac Herzog, although he was part of the left-wing camp for years before entering the presidency. Now, he is in the crosshairs of his former allies, who will stop at nothing in their war against Netanyahu.
A protest outside Herzog’s home in Tel Aviv was already taking place on Sunday evening.
The leftist chairman of the corrupt “Movement for Quality Government,” Adv. Eliad Shraga, a friend of Herzog until now, even released a video attacking Herzog and making veiled threats to implicate Herzog in some trumped-up charge if he pardons Netanyahu. He also claimed that there are “persistent rumors of a possible deal between Herzog and Netanyahu.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid refrained from attacking Herzog but dictated to him instead, saying, “I call on President Herzog: You cannot grant Netanyahu a pardon without an admission of guilt, expression of remorse, and immediate withdrawal from political life.”
Democrats chairman Yair Golan made a similar statement.
Likud MK Taly Gotliv criticized Netanyahu for his request for others reasons, stating, “Mr. Prime Minister, I read with sorrow the fact that you submitted a pardon request to the President. True—you still write that you admit to nothing and have nothing to admit to, but this case is bigger than you and bigger than all of us.”
“This is a case that should have reached a verdict with real determinations against those who fabricated cases against you, against those who persecuted a Prime Minister, against those who did this to bring down a right‑wing government and harm the right‑wing majority in Israel.”
“This pardon request carries an element of humiliation, not only for you, I must say, but for all of us, especially after what has been exposed in recent weeks– the lies, the persecution, the senior officials involved in fabricating the cases, and the filing of an indictment without evidence.”
“Even when I saw the humiliations you endured in the courtroom, the constant attempts to humiliate you and cause pain on a historic level, in my view this will be a mistake, a very grave mistake.”
Likud MK Galit Distel Atbaryan wrote, “To all those who are disappointed, I want to remind you of the words of Prof. Ruth Gavison, z’l, Israel Prize laureate in law: ‘I fear that Netanyahu has no chance of receiving a fair trial. This is a tragedy for Bibi but also very bad for the state and society.’ ”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
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One Response
Over 6 years in court wasting the prime ministers time about cigars and stuffed animals isn’t enough to appease these leftist thugs they won’t stop until he’s dead but when it’s time to investigate their military Advocate General they’re doing everything they can to for the investigation even though it’s treason to the highest degree