When Donald Trump called upon Israel’s President Isaac Herzog to issue a pardon for Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, Bibi entered into a class of criminals he should have avoided.

Trump said Herzog “should be ashamed of himself” for not granting a pardon to Netanyahu, who is standing trial for alleged fraud, bribery, and breach of trust.

Trump then went on to say, “I think the people of Israel should really shame him (Herzog).  He’s disgraceful for not giving it,” Trump added.

That’s because everyone else Trump has ever pardoned has been a convicted criminal whose crimes ranged from fraud, money laundering, drug smuggling, theft, perjury, and elected politicians who were found guilty of violating the public trust.

Trump’s first approval of criminality happened on his first day in office when he pardoned about 1,500 convicted Jan. 6, 2021, rioters. The rioters attacked Capitol police and vandalized the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election. The release of these right-wing rioters now comprises a band of Trump’s Brown Shirts who went back to almost every state in the union.  Some of these rioters are now suspected of being employed by the federal government in the thuggish Department of Homeland Security police force known as ICE.

So far, Trump has pardoned an additional 88 people, with about 50% of those pardons going to white-collar criminals.

His most high-profile pardon was to former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who was sentenced to 45 years in prison in June 2024 after a U.S. federal jury convicted him of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and firearms offenses.

Trump is attracted to awarding clemency to white-collar criminals, especially those convicted of financial crimes. As a convicted criminal himself, Trump would welcome a pardon from anyone.  As of January 2025, Trump is a party to a New York State “Hush Money” Case, a Federal Classified Documents Case, a Federal Election Interference Case, and a Georgia Election Interference Case.

In addition, in May 2024, Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts after prosecutors alleged that he engaged in a “scheme” to boost his chances during the 2016 presidential election through a series of hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and then falsified New York business records to cover up that alleged criminal conduct.

Over half of the88 individual pardons Trump granted are for white-collar offenses, with money laundering, bank fraud, and wire fraud among the most frequent crimes the president has wiped clean. This includes a former health care CEO, the former governor of Puerto Rico, and a pair of siblings who were convicted on fraud charges — one of whom Trump previously freed for a different crime.

A Bibi Pardon Would Destroy Israel’s Reputation as a Democracy

When Trump asked Herzog for a pardon for Bibi, it would imply that the prime minister already is part of a sordid class of criminals, none of whom attract any public support.

For his part, Herzog said a legal team is evaluating a pardon, but this would be a huge mistake.  Israel and its judiciary do not want to become part of America’s corrupt legal system.

Every day on American TV, we see ICE agents pulling people out of cars, beating people on the streets, invading houses and stores looking for people who look like immigrants.  All of this is subjective and is being done without warrants.  The people who are arrested are taken to undisclosed locations where they are subjected to brutal treatment without being charged with any crimes.

This is the first stage of fascism, and it is all approved by the US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is regarded as a Trump hack with no legal standards.

Herzog should ignore Trump’s call for a pardon.  Israel’s judiciary should do the same.  If Netanyahu violated Israeli law, he should be publicly charged and tried.  Israel’s credibility internationally is precarious, and a pardon for the Prime Minister would be an international disgrace.

It would show that Israel’s judiciary, like that in the US, is for sale or corrupted by vindictiveness, prejudice, and political corruption.

Do not pardon Bibi.  Put him on trial like an average citizen, present the evidence, allow the prosecution and defense to make their arguments, and let the tribunal decide.

Pardons bypass the entire public legal process that is expected in any democracy.  If Israel wants to claim it is the only democracy in the Middle East, granting a pardon, as suggested by the most corrupt president in US history, is a guaranteed way to destroy the country’s international reputation as a democratic state.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)