Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana urges Herzog to pardon Netanyahu in letter with no formal legal basis

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana sent a letter on Sunday urging President Isaac Herzog to grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pardon request, saying former attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit's testimony “exposed failures and violations of the law.”Ohana's letter is a political appeal, not a formal step in the clemency process, as he lacks the legal authority to issue such a request. “I was shocked to learn from the former attorney-general's testimony that even the remaining charges - after the panel of judges twice suggested that prosecutors withdraw the bribery charge, thus indicating, in their view, that no such bribery ever took place - are based on unlawful investigative actions conducted without his knowledge or approval,” Ohana wrote.“This conduct, which exposes a series of omissions, failures and violations of the law, cannot end merely with dramatic reports across the media. It must also lead you to reach a decision on the prime minister's pardon request.”Ohana, himself a lawyer, said one of the “chronic failings” of Israel's justice system is “the dragging out of proceedings,” and called on the president to make the “just, courageous, and appropriate decision” to pardon Netanyahu.Netanyahu submitted a formal pardon request in November 2025, which has since gone through the Justice Ministry's Pardons Department and been forwarded to Herzog. The president has the authority to grant a pardon; Ohana's letter does not give him a role in that process or change the status of the request. Israeli law allows any individual to submit a clemency request, so the letter is not meaningless, but it has no independent legal effect. Mandelblit told court investigators took steps without his approvalOhana's characterization of Mandelblit's testimony goes beyond what has been established in court. Mandelblit told the Jerusalem District Court on Sunday that investigators took some serious steps without his approval, but also testified that he authorized the investigations and did not have to approve every police action. The prosecution disputes the defense's account, as the trial continues in the defense stage. In 2021, the judges rejected a defense request to dismiss the indictment over the authorization issue, while criticizing the lack of separate written approvals. Netanyahu asked Herzog for a pardon more than five years after his trial began in 2020, while the proceedings were still underway and before any verdict. The President's Office says clemency requests are generally considered only after legal proceedings have ended. Although the Supreme Court has upheld the president's authority to grant a pardon before indictment in rare circumstances, Netanyahu's request to end an active trial is unprecedented and raises questions about the boundary between presidential clemency and the courts' role.Sarah Ben-Nun and Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.