A Call to President Herzog

To the President of the State of Israel

Mr. Isaac Herzog

We, Israelis and Jews from around the world, feel obligated to respond to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s unprecedented attempt to secure a pardon that would freeze all judicial proceedings currently underway against him

Mr. President, you have often spoken with warmth and clarity about the deep bond between the State of Israel and the Jewish people everywhere – am echad sharing one destiny and one responsibility. You have called on us to strengthen those ties and to heal the rifts that have opened between Israel and world Jewry. It is in exactly that spirit of shared covenant and mutual responsibility that we now turn to you and ask: do not grant this pardon.

At a time when Israel’s democracy is under intense strain and the eyes of the Jewish people and the world are upon us, a presidential pardon for a sitting Prime Minister, before his trial is complete, would send a devastating message. It would cast doubt on the independence of Israel’s justice system, blur the line between power and accountability, and undermine Israel’s standing as a state governed by the rule of law – a core Jewish value of “tzedek, tzedek tirdof” (justice, justice shall you pursue).

We, Israelis living in Israel and across the globe, together with world Jewry, appeal to you and urge you to reject the unprecedented request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pardon him and halt the legal proceedings currently being conducted against him.

The Prime Minister’s request marks a new peak in the ongoing erosion of the rule of law and the independence of the Israeli judiciary. Section 11 of the Basic Law: The President of the State grants the President authority to pardon and to commute sentences. By its nature and spirit, this power presumes a full admission of the offenses, an expression of remorse, and a willingness to take responsibility.

In this case, none of these conditions has been met. Even discussing a pardon that cancels a criminal trial of a sitting Prime Minister under such circumstances would violate the principle of equality before the law and signal a dangerous surrender to political pressure.

Therefore, the legal proceedings against the Prime Minister must be allowed to continue. Only after they are completed – and only if there is a conviction followed by genuine remorse – can a request for pardon be considered, in line with the intent of Basic Law: The President of the State.

Mr. President, a clear refusal now would be a brave and necessary act – in defense of Israel’s democracy, in honor of our Jewish moral tradition, and for the sake of all citizens of the State of Israel and the Jewish people who care so deeply about its future.