Politics

Trump, trial, and troops: Inside the perfect political storm that triggered Netanyahu's pardon push

NATIONAL AFFAIRS: A sympathetic White House, a punishing courtroom schedule, and a looming coalition crisis over haredi conscription explain the prime minister’s sudden pardon request.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is dealing with a US president who is personally, emotionally, and politically invested in his fate. Trump has never hidden his view that Netanyahu should be pardoned. Here, the two stand together in the Knesset, during Trump’s October visit.
Israeli attorney general Gali Baharav Miara attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee leads a committee meeting in the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem, on April 27, 2025.

The 'deep state' is not blocking Israel's leaders, they just refuse to govern - opinion

PRESIDENT ISAAC Herzog and US President Donald Trump in the Knesset in October: Granting Netanyahu a pardon and dropping all criminal charges against him would dangerously embolden Trump and weaken Herzog, the writer argues.

Pardoning Netanyahu would weaken Israel, empower Trump's interference - opinion

 Netanyahu in the Likud faction meeting

Netanyahu presses on with reforms as Likud turmoil intensifies


October 7 exposed Israel's deepest fracture: The haredi exemption - opinion

As hundreds of thousands of Israelis mobilized for the war, the absence of the ultra-Orthodox was painfully clear.

October 7 and the war in Gaza have heightened the demand for all Israelis to serve in the IDF. A small number of ultra-Orthodox Jews serve in the all-haredi Netzah Yehuda Battalion.

'A movement takes time': How one rabbi is slowly changing the haredi draft debate

Behind protests and politics, a quiet revolution is reshaping ultra-Orthodox attitudes toward military service.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews carry a banner in Hebrew that reads, “to prison and not the army,” during a “million man” protest against military conscription, in Jerusalem October 30, 2025.

Israel's self-declared gatekeepers should be locked out or locked up - opinion

Yair Golan’s rhetoric and Gali Baharav-Miara’s influence show how gatekeepers now shape the political arena as much as those they claim to restrain.

YAIR GOLAN, chairman of The Democrats Party, appears before his MKs at a parliamentary faction meeting in the Knesset last month. In Israel, hypocritical behavior is fairly standard, the writer argues.

Will Netanyahu 'heal the nation' if he receives pardon from Herzog? - opinion

Israel deserves a legitimate October 7 inquiry and new elections, amid dramatic efforts to make amends and heal wounds.

PRESIDENT ISAAC HERZOG and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend the dedication of a new rehab center at Hadassah Hospital-Mount Scopus in October. Pardon Netanyahu if he takes substantive steps to unite the nation, says the writer.

Aliyah Minister Sofer vows to vote against haredi draft bill, 'even if Netanyahu fires me'

RZP's Ofir Sofer to oppose draft legislation, defying faction head Bezalel Smotrich • Bismuth brings new haredi draft bill outline to Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee

Aliyah and Integration Minister Minister Ofir Sofer holds a press conference at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, December 1, 2025

Sons of former Pakistan PM fear for his health, demand proof of life after three weeks of silence

Imran Khan's sons fear authorities are concealing "something irreversible" about his condition after over three weeks with no verifiable contact or proof of life from jail.

  Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, gestures as he speaks to the members of the media at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan May 18, 2023.

Bismuth’s haredi draft bill won’t change enlistment, IDI expert tells 'Post'

An Israel Democracy Institute expert warns that MK Boaz Bismuth’s haredi draft offers no real enforcement and will not improve enlistment rates.

 MK Boaz Bismuth leads the lobby for releasing the remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, January 9, 2024.

Naftali Bennett voices support for Netanyahu pardon, coupled with PM's political exit

Former PM: "I will support a binding agreement that will include a dignified withdrawal [for Netanyahu] from political life alongside the end of the trial."

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett speaks at a political event in Jerusalem, November 19, 2025; illustrative.

Netanyahu will not step away from Israeli politics for plea deal, intends to run again

Sources close to President Herzog said that a decision on Netanyahu's pardon will take at least two months.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the Knesset as President Isaac Herzog looks on on November 30, 2025.

Netanyahu's pardon must include admission of guilt, departure from political life, Lapid charges

”You cannot grant Netanyahu a pardon without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse, and an immediate withdrawal from political life," the opposition leader said.

Yair Lapid walks next then-opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, November 8, 2021

Tel Aviv stock market rises after Netanyahu's bombshell pardon request

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu submitted a 111-page pardon request to President Isaac Herzog, lifting Tel Aviv indexes as investors weighed stability risks and the state budget timeline.

President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a backdrop of a stock market ticker board.