Otzma Yehudit Minister Amichai Eliyahu sent an urgent letter to President Isaac Herzog urging him to exercise his constitutional authority and grant Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu a presidential pardon, bringing his years-long trial to an end.

His letter comes after the judges presiding over the trial recommended on Monday that the prosecution withdraw the bribery charge in Case 4000, the same recommendation they made in 2023.

“After I submitted my recommendation that you exercise your power of pardon and laid out the legal and precedential basis for doing so, the latest developments in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s trial have only reinforced the need for a decision,” Eliyahu wrote in the letter.

“The judges’ remarks, casting doubt on the central charge in the case, are not a technical detail. They are evidence that even within the judicial system itself there is an understanding that the proceedings are far from clear-cut.”

“The State of Israel is in the midst of one of the most difficult periods in its history. Our children are fighting on the front lines, the entire nation is being called upon to stand strong, and at the same time, in an absurd and incomprehensible situation, the prime minister is being forced to devote his daily attention to legal proceedings that are increasingly proving to deepen divisions, weaken the country’s leadership, and erode public trust.”

“The power of pardon is intended for moments like this—when a national need requires a broader perspective beyond the legal process.”

“Mr. President, the time has come to end the political persecution and the judicial circus, and to allow the State of Israel to focus on the real challenges before it. I call on you to act courageously, exercise your authority, and bring an end to an affair that has disrupted our public life for years.”

Senior Attorney Tzion Amir said during an interview with Galey Yisrael on Tuesday, “If I were in the President’s position, I would convene the Pardons Department, the Attorney General, and all the relevant officials, and tell them, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I have no intention of allowing this to continue any longer.’

“Once the core of the case has collapsed, after so many years and after causing enormous damage to Israeli society in every possible respect, it is time to treat the remaining issues as minor matters. Today it has become clear that since 2016, the country has been dragged through a process that has caused it tremendous harm, led to five election campaigns, and resulted in billions of shekels in damage.

“It is time to bring this to an end. Israeli society deserves a pardon from this entire affair. In my view, the President received a clear signal and strong backing today to take action.”

Publicist Ran Baratz said: “It’s the left’s turn to face reality. Any left-winger who refuses to admit that—while Netanyahu’s trial has been dragging on for three years after the judges told the prosecution it should consider dropping the bribery charge, the prosecution insisted on hearing all the evidence anyway, and now the judges are once again saying the bribery charge should be dropped (just think how much time and how many resources were wasted because of that decision to continue)—that Netanyahu’s trial is a farce that should never have come into existence, that its national cost has been catastrophic, and that since everything was known in advance (as many said), everyone involved in fabricating the case should first be dismissed in disgrace and then face a criminal investigation, at a minimum for fraud and breach of trust—is neither honest nor credible.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)