By Andrea Shalal
PALM BEACH, Florida, Dec 29 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Israeli President Isaac Herzog had told him a pardon for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “on its way,” an assertion Herzog’s office was quick to challenge.
"He's a wartime prime minister who's a hero. How do you not give a pardon?" Trump told reporters while standing beside Netanyahu before a meeting in Florida. "I spoke to the president ... he tells me it's on its way."
Asked about the U.S. president's remarks, Herzog's office said the Israeli president had not had any conversations with Trump since a pardon request was submitted several weeks ago.
Herzog's office said Herzog had spoken to a representative for Trump then and it was explained that any decision would be made in accordance with established procedures.
Netanyahu, Israel's first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime, denies bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges dating back to his 2019 indictment.
His own request for a pardon, submitted on November 30, argued that frequent court hearings impair his ability to govern and that clemency serves the national interest.
The appeal was lodged following the start of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, as his government sought to bring an end to Hamas' rule under Trump's plan to end two years of war and expand diplomatic ties across the region.
The request by the six-time prime minister had drawn fierce criticism from opponents, who said that pardoning him mid-trial would be a total breach of the rule of law.
According to Israeli law, the president has authority to pardon convicts. But there is no precedent for issuing a pardon mid-trial.
Netanyahu's pardon quest has been boosted by Trump, a close ally who wrote a formal letter to Herzog in November urging him to grant clemency and describing the case as "political, unjustified prosecution."
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Christian Martinez, Doina Chiacu, Emily Rose and Maayan Lubell; Writing by Howard Goller; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
