Netanyahu seeks pardon in corruption trial from Israel's president after getting Trump's backing

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has submitted a request for a formal pardon amid a yearslong corruption trial, just weeks after President Donald Trump said he should be pardoned.“Today, my lawyers submitted a request for clemency to the President of the State,” Netanyahu said in a video address posted on X Sunday.“The continuation of the trial is tearing us apart from within, provoking fierce divisions, intensifying divisions,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has submitted a request for a formal pardon amid a yearslong corruption trial, just weeks after President Donald Trump said he should be pardoned.

“Today, my lawyers submitted a request for clemency to the President of the State,” Netanyahu said in a video address posted on X Sunday.

“The continuation of the trial is tearing us apart from within, provoking fierce divisions, intensifying divisions,” he said. “My personal interest was and remains to continue the process until the end, until I am fully acquitted of all charges, but the security and political realities, the national interest, require otherwise.”

Netanyahu is facing charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases. Prosecutors have alleged that he exchanged regulatory favors with media owners in Israel seeking positive press coverage.

He has also been accused of accepting gifts — including cigars and champagne — in exchange for advancing the personal interests of Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer. Prosecutors say these were worth hundreds of thousands of shekels.