Trump’s stinging attack on Israel’s president touches a nerve
- The San Juan Daily Star
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
By ISABEL KERSHNER
President Donald Trump’s public excoriation of Israel’s president because he has not yet pardoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his long-running corruption trial has touched a nerve in Israel.
Trump called President Isaac Herzog “disgraceful” while speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday.
“The people of Israel should really shame him” for not letting Netanyahu off the hook, Trump said.
The blatant intervention into Israeli domestic affairs, together with the insulting tone, developed into a rare, open spat between allies over the honor of the Israeli president, who is largely a figurehead. The affront prompted pushback from some senior Israeli officials — including Herzog — while some staunch supporters of Netanyahu sided with Trump.
The comments clearly stung Herzog. A statement from his office Thursday night clarified that Herzog had not yet reached a decision regarding a pardon and that the matter was still under review by the Ministry of Justice.
“Only upon completion of that process will President Herzog consider the request in accordance with the law, the best interests of the State of Israel, guided by his conscience, and without any influence from external or internal pressures of any kind,” the statement said.
While expressing appreciation for Trump’s “significant contribution” to Israel’s security, the statement added pointedly, “Israel is a sovereign state governed by the rule of law.”
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations and a former minister in Netanyahu’s Likud party, told Israel’s Army Radio on Sunday that he appreciated and respected Trump.
“I expect him also to appreciate and respect our president, President Herzog,” he added. “Regarding the style,” Dannon said of Trump’s outburst, “I think he should have said it in a different way.”
Trump made his remarks a day after holding talks with Netanyahu at the White House on Wednesday, fueling speculation in Israel that the prime minister may have put Trump up to it. Netanyahu’s aides denied that late Saturday.
“The prime minister heard about it from the media and did not know about it in advance,” a statement by representatives of Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu has been on trial for five years. Charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, he is battling three separate, but interlocking cases centering on accusations that he arranged favors for tycoons in exchange for gifts and sympathetic media coverage for himself and his family.
He denies all wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a political witch hunt by a liberal “deep state.”
The trial has deeply divided Israel and Trump has repeatedly waded into the morass, pressing Herzog to pardon Netanyahu.
In October, during a visit to Israel, Trump made a rambling address to the Israeli parliament during which he turned to Herzog on the podium and said, “Mr. President, why don’t you give him a pardon?”
A month later, Trump wrote a letter to the Israeli president asking him to grant Netanyahu a full pardon, again putting Herzog on the spot.
Two weeks after that, in late November, Netanyahu submitted a formal, preemptive request for a pardon that Herzog called “extraordinary.” Critics said granting it would run counter to the rule of law, not least because the trial was still going on.
The role of president in Israel is largely ceremonial and granting pardons is one of the few powers Herzog has. But the general rule, according to experts, is that a president can pardon people who have been convicted. They say that a request for a preemptive pardon subverted a cornerstone of Israeli democracy: the principle of equality before the law.
On Thursday, Trump erroneously accused Herzog of refusing to grant Netanyahu a pardon.
“He said he’s given it five different times, but he doesn’t want to do it because, I guess he loses his power,” Trump said. “He’s disgraceful for not giving it,” he added. “He should be ashamed of himself.”