‘I think the people of Israel should really shame him,’ Trump said of Herzog. ‘He’s disgraceful for not giving it.’
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Israeli President Isaac Herzog of failing to act responsibly by not granting a pardon to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial in Israel on charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said Herzog should feel public pressure for declining to intervene in the legal proceedings. “You have a president that refused to give him a pardon… [He] should be ashamed of himself,” Trump said, adding that the Israeli president’s authority to issue pardons was being deliberately withheld.
Trump’s remarks came as he was also questioned about Netanyahu’s role in the security failures surrounding Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack. Trump replied that blame could not be placed on a single individual, saying, “I guess everybody’s responsible,” before describing the assault as a “sneak attack” that he said “nobody else would have seen coming.”
The US president repeatedly praised Netanyahu’s wartime leadership, describing him as “a very good wartime prime minister,” and pointed to what he characterized as shared achievements against Iran during their time in office. Trump framed the Israeli leader as undeserving of continued prosecution while Israel remains at war.
“I think the people of Israel should really shame him,” Trump said of Herzog. “He’s disgraceful for not giving it.”
Trump has raised the issue of a potential pardon for Netanyahu on multiple occasions. During a December meeting with the Israeli leader, Trump publicly questioned why a pardon had not already been issued, calling Netanyahu “a hero” and asking, “How do you not give a pardon?”
At that time, Trump claimed he had personally discussed the matter with Herzog and said the Israeli president indicated that a pardon was imminent. “I spoke to the president, and he tells me it’s on its way,” Trump said then.
Netanyahu’s trial has continued throughout the war, with proceedings focused on allegations that he accepted illicit benefits and sought regulatory advantages for media owners in exchange for favorable coverage. Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing.
Herzog later rejected Trump’s account of their supposed discussion, saying they had not recently spoken about the issue and stressing that no decision had been made regarding a pardon for the prime minister.