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Norms Impact

Trump writes formal letter to ask for a pardon for Netanyahu

A US president formally pressed a foreign head of state to pardon an ally mid-trial, treating judicial accountability as negotiable power rather than independent law.

Executive

Nov 12, 2025

Sources

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-12/donald-trump-letter-israel-president-pardon-benjamin-netanyahu/106003278

Summary

President Donald Trump sent an undated formal letter to Israel’s President Isaac Herzog urging him to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from ongoing corruption charges. A sitting US president has moved from public commentary to direct, official pressure on a foreign head of state regarding an active judicial proceeding. The intervention amplifies political demands to short-circuit a trial already underway, tightening the squeeze on judicial independence and public trust in lawful process.

Reality Check

Normalizing a US president’s direct push to extinguish a foreign leader’s corruption trial invites a dangerous precedent: executive power recast as a tool to shield allies from legal scrutiny, eroding the rule-of-law culture our rights depend on. The conduct described is not clearly criminal on its face because no bribery, payment, or official US act is alleged; without that, federal quid-pro-quo and corruption statutes like 18 U.S.C. §§ 201 and 371 are not plainly triggered on these facts. But it is a severe governance breach: it pressures a foreign executive to override an “independent judicial system” in an active case, and it mirrors the stated willingness to “be involved…to help him out,” signaling that accountability can be bargained away through political influence.

Detail

President Donald Trump wrote a formal, undated letter to Israel’s President Isaac Herzog urging him to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been on trial since 2020 on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, all of which Netanyahu denies.

In the letter released by Herzog’s office, Trump stated he respected Israel’s independent judicial system but described the case as a “political, unjustified prosecution,” and wrote that it was time to “let Bibi unite Israel by pardoning him.”

Herzog responded that any request for a presidential pardon must be submitted “in accordance with the established procedures.” Netanyahu posted a social media message thanking Trump for his “incredible support” without explicitly referencing the letter.

Israeli opposition figures said Israeli law requires an admission of guilt and expression of remorse as a condition for a pardon. Legal experts said a pardon during an ongoing trial has no precedent and could be challenged before Israel’s High Court of Justice.