The request to the president was born because he sees a weakened and frightened body, and hints to him: The gladiatorial battle between us could end in a draw. Get off me and I will let go of the attorney general and the court. If his request is not accepted - a particularly explosive election campaign is expected.
Moran Azoulay
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No one saw this coming. Despite the advance preparations, and despite the coordinated and consistent campaign with President Trump, it was accepted
Request for pardon
which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu submitted to complete astonishment in both the legal and political systems.
The announcement by the presidential spokeswoman at noon (Sunday) created such profound shock and confusion that even the swift keyboardists among the ministers and MKs waited a long time before expressing a stammering response, to do their duty. But as the dust settled, the picture became clearer that the timing at which Netanyahu chose to send President Herzog the extraordinary request was not at all coincidental.
2 Viewing the gallery
Benjamin Netanyahu. A hint as thick as a doppelganger (Photo: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Without giving anything in return – no confession, no remorse, certainly no resignation – Netanyahu is effectively asking for a full acquittal from his trial. And this is before he has stood the test of the public after the October 7 disaster, and without it being clear whether he has the public legitimacy to continue serving as prime minister.
Contrary to his opponents' attempt to interpret the request as an admission of guilt and loss, Netanyahu is not begging for clemency. There is not even a hint in the text of the request that suggests this. The message that emerges from the document is not directed at Herzog at all, but at the legal system:"Cut your losses."
Why is he submitting the request now that he was careful to claim he would not submit? There are probably a variety of reasons for this, and one of them is obvious. Netanyahu recognizes a weakened, frightened judicial system that is at a public low point. The Magistrate's affair, the allegations of a cover-up and failed conduct in the affair by the Attorney General, and other related events, are shaking the leaders of this system and creating a feeling that a circle is about to close.
Whether this is factually true or not, Netanyahu recognizes a moment of opportunity and tells them - take the pressure off me, and I will take the pressure off you. Or as
hinted
In his request to the president: "Granting a pardon will allow the prime minister... to deal with additional issues, such as the justice system and the media."
Netanyahu sees how his actions have borne fruit. The systems against which he has worked intensively in recent years, often in gray areas, are finally cracking. So he confronts them with a one-time offer. If you will, he offers them mutual amnesty.
Insisted on disgrace. Attorney General Bahar-Miara (Photo: Amit Shaavi)
In Netanyahu's opinion, the political and legal systems that have been waging a gladiatorial battle have reached a decisive point, and he proposes a draw. Each will get what it, in his opinion, needs: the political system will let go of the Attorney General and the court, and they will let go of him.
And to receive a pardon, Netanyahu may indeed need the help of the legal system. He knows that since it is a pre-trial pardon, Herzog will seek an opinion from the prosecutor's office. And such an opinion could have a profound impact on the process and its outcome. On the other hand, he may be able to influence the investigation into the Magritte case, and prevent the unpleasantness that awaits Harav-Miara.
And besides the fitness hour he recognizes, there is another issue. Anyone who has talked to Netanyahu recently recognizes that he is exhausted by the legal proceedings. Three theoretical options were before him: a request to stay the proceedings (in other words: to suspend the proceedings), a plea bargain (in which the attorney general would insist on a pardon), and the third option - a pardon from the president.
Of the three, he chose the one he thought – and presumably he had checked beforehand – had the best chances. If it was accepted, the whole plan would have succeeded. If it was not accepted, he would return to his natural position and run the stolen Cossack campaign in the style of"I wanted unity among the people, but you wanted my head." In that case, the next election campaign would be even more explosive than we thought.
