Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday asked the country’s president to grant him a pardon from corruption charges, seeking to bring an end to a long-running trial that has sharply divided the nation.

Netanyahu, who has long been at odds with the country’s legal system over the charges, said the request would help unify the country during a period of significant regional shifts.

The move immediately drew strong criticism from opponents, who argued that it would undermine Israel’s democratic institutions and convey a dangerous message that he is beyond the rule of law.

In a statement on Sunday, the prime minister’s office said that Netanyahu had submitted a request for a pardon to the legal department of the Office of the President. The president’s office described it as an “extraordinary request” with “significant implications.”

Netanyahu is the only sitting prime minister in Israeli history to face trial after being charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases that accuse him of exchanging favours with wealthy political supporters.

He has not been convicted of any offence and rejects all allegations, calling the case a witch hunt driven by the media, police and judiciary.

The request comes weeks after United States President Donald Trump urged Israel to pardon Netanyahu. Earlier this month Trump also sent a letter to President Isaac Herzog calling the corruption case a “political, unjustified prosecution.”

In a videotaped statement, Netanyahu said the trial has fuelled division and that a pardon would help restore national unity. He also said that having to appear in court three times a week is a distraction that makes it difficult for him to lead the country. “The continuation of the trial tears us apart from within, stirs up this division, and deepens rifts. I am sure, like many others in the nation, that an immediate conclusion of the trial would greatly help to lower the flames and promote the broad reconciliation that our country so desperately needs,” he said.

Netanyahu has taken the stand several times over the past year, but hearings have been repeatedly delayed as he has handled wars and unrest following the Hamas-led militant attacks of October 2023.

The pardon request consists of two documents: a detailed letter signed by his lawyer and a letter signed by Netanyahu. Both documents will be sent to the justice ministry for review and then transferred to the Legal Advisor in the Office of the President, which will prepare additional opinions for the president.

Can the pardon request halt the trial?

Legal experts say the pardon request cannot stop the ongoing trial. “It’s impossible,” said Emi Palmor, former director general of the justice ministry.

“You cannot claim that you’re innocent while the trial is going on and come to the president and ask him to intervene.” She said that the only way to halt proceedings would be to ask the attorney general to withhold the case.

How did the opposition respond?

Netanyahu’s request immediately triggered opposition calls urging the president to reject it. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said, “You cannot grant him a pardon without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse and an immediate retirement from political life.”

AP inputs