Herzog invites parties in Netanyahu trial to discuss plea bargain

Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s legal adviser, attorney Michal Tzuk, on Tuesday approached the parties in the criminal cases against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and invited them to hold talks aimed at reaching understandings.

The President’s Residence believes that before making a dramatic decision of “yes” or “no” on the pardon request, it would be right to first exhaust the possibility of bringing the parties to a plea bargain outside the courtroom.

The process is intended to examine the possibility of advancing understandings and agreements, and it constitutes only a preliminary stage before the president holds a discussion on the pardon request itself. The parties were asked to arrive promptly, with an open mind and in good faith.

It was made clear to the parties that accepting the invitation would not constitute consent or approval on their part regarding any issue in dispute between them in court.

On Sunday, The New York Times reported that Herzog was expected in the coming days to approach the State Attorney’s Office and Netanyahu’s lawyers in order to initiate talks between the parties.

At the same time, senior Israeli officials familiar with the matter were cited as saying that the president was not expected to grant a pardon to Netanyahu at this stage, and was examining the possibility of promoting a mediation process that would lead to a plea deal.

Herzog has faced pressure to grant a pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump.

On March 5, Trump said of Herzog, “I think the people of Israel should really shame him. He’s disgraceful for not giving it,” referring to a pardon. Herzog “promised me five times that he would give Bibi a pardon,” Trump claimed, adding that he would refuse to meet with the Israeli president until the pardon was granted.

On Feb. 12, Trump said that the Israeli president “should be ashamed of himself,” adding that Herzog had been holding the issue over Netanyahu “for a year” and should stop using it as leverage. Before that, on Oct. 13 of last year, while addressing the Knesset, Trump called on Herzog to grant a pardon. Trump followed that up with a letter to the Israeli president on Nov. 12.

On March 5, Herzog’s office pushed back against Trump’s comments, saying Israel “is a sovereign state governed by the rule of law. … [T]he president will examine the request according to the law, the good of the country and according to his conscience, without any influence from external or internal pressures of any kind.”

This is an edited version of an article that first appeared in Israel Hayom.