The time has come for Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. For too long, the specter of Netanyahu’s “trials” has loomed over Israeli politics and, due to the unyielding efforts of an endless protest movement, the Israeli public.
Pulling at the threads of Israel’s society for some five years, numerous elections have already taken place in which the fundamental question was: “Bibi or no Bibi.”
The entire political landscape of Israel has shifted around this question, resulting in a first-of-its-kind right-wing government with a stable majority following Netanyahu’s decisive victory in the most recent and conclusive November 2022 Israeli election.
For years, voters have had to weigh the merits of the witch-hunt trials against Netanyahu as a consideration when they went to the ballot box. While many experts point to the frivolity of the cases against Israel’s longest-ruling prime minister, there is no doubt the public has had ample opportunity to dismiss their leader on the merits of those charges.
And yet, time and again, not least of all in the 2022 election, the majority made its will heard and selected Netanyahu as the man of the hour—indeed, the generation.
What we have witnessed in the 600-plus days of war since Israel was invaded and butchered by Hamas savages and their supporters from Gaza has been a demonstration of why Israelis chose Israel’s statesman, historian, and warrior through thick and thin. We knew that threats to our small nation emanating from Iran were immense and that the prime minister was simply, as one of his campaign slogans indicates, “in another league.”
This has been borne out by his methodical approach to dismantling the Iranian ring of fire from one front to the next, culminating in the epically coordinated final assault on the heart of the Iranian nuclear program by the Israeli Air Force, Mossad and the unmatched might of the U.S. Air Force.
The leadership and courage that it took to order the execution of the infamous “Grim Beeper” operation against Hezbollah or the preemptive strike on Iran are scantily found among the weak-kneed appeasers that have led the West for decades.
Unlike the seemingly bogus charges against Netanyahu concocted by the Israeli not-so-deep state to try to strongarm the prime minister out of office after losing to him repeatedly at the ballot box, the threat of the Iranian regime’s nuclear program has been entirely real and looming over the whole of Israel for far too long.
Netanyahu often draws comparisons to Winston Churchill for standing alone against the Iranian terror threat for years while weak, misguided, and worse American presidents did everything from neglecting the Islamic Republic to funding it with appeasement payouts.
Americans can be forgiven for wanting to avoid at nearly all costs a repeat of the debacles that took place in Iraq and, after former President Joe Biden’s humiliating and incompetent withdrawal, Afghanistan. However, President Donald Trump, the sole leader of the “America First” and “Make America Great Again” movement, determined that the threat from Iran was too great to be tolerated.
With the U.S. president’s unparalleled masterstroke—implemented with the highest levels of coordination with Netanyahu and perhaps only him among world leaders—that grave danger has been substantially set back, and perhaps even eliminated. If so, this would amount to the fulfillment of Bibi’s legacy.
Following this unprecedented level of synchronization and success between the two leaders, Trump took to Truth Social with an unequivocal message of praise and support for Netanyahu and urged Israel to either drop the phony charges once and for all or issue a pardon to the longtime leader. In recent weeks, the president has alluded to the unfair treatment Netanyahu has received from an ungrateful Israeli state apparatus.
Accusations against Netanyahu have been unhinged, with left-wingers in the protest movement pointing the finger at him for every ill and even approaching the Gaza hostage crisis as if he were hiding Hamas’s civilian captives in his basement.
Now, with Iran thoroughly humiliated by Israel’s total penetration of their tyrannical regime and absolute dominance in the “12-Day War,” Israel’s focus returns to retrieving the abductees and finishing the job in Gaza. This is no small task. With the conclusion of the war in Gaza, and perhaps even beforehand, the Abraham Accords will be set to flourish with the addition of other Muslim countries normalizing ties with the Jewish state.
With nearly 18 months left in Netanyahu’s term, these are goals he can see to the finish line and then determine whether it is time to pass the reins to a new generation. His retirement from political life will allow a reshuffling of the decks that could result in a broad Israeli coalition not dependent on any narrow interests considered to be fringe by large portions of society.
However, as long as the courts and protesters target the prime minister relentlessly, he will remain the champion of the people against the deep state, and their coordinated witch hunt will continue to backfire as it has for years.
And yet, in the wake of historic achievements, Netanyahu has once again been summoned to court next week.
The Israeli presidency is vested with few powers, but among those it does possess is the power of pardon. Herzog, though associated with the left-wing camp, has acquitted himself admirably throughout his presidency and has strived mostly successfully to represent all of Israel.
To leave a true legacy and make a lasting impact on Israel’s bright future, he should pardon Netanyahu and allow the country’s triumphant leader to complete, for the sake of the nation, his term and his career, on a note of total victory.