Zionist Judge: Herzog Lacks the Authority to Pardon Netanyahu

Elyakim Rubinstein, a retired Israeli judge and former deputy chief justice of the regime’s Supreme Court, criticized Netanyahu’s request for a pardon while he is currently on trial on serious corruption charges.

Netanyahu said on Sunday, during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz—who is visiting the occupied territories—that he would not withdraw from political life in exchange for a pardon.

Rubinstein told Israel’s Kan Radio: “In my view, this request is ‘the emperor’s new clothes.’ What has been presented is not a request for a pardon. The president of Israel has neither the authority nor the legal capacity to pardon criminals. Anyone seeking a pardon must first confess to the charges against them.”

He added: “There is a systematic attempt to undermine the court and the government’s legal adviser. This is an obstacle to democracy. These days, there is effectively no Knesset in Israel, and Netanyahu’s cabinet does whatever it wishes. It wants to place the judiciary under its boot. They treat the judicial system as an enemy. This is a threat to democracy.”

The retired judge further emphasized: “The first thing is that you should wake up in the morning as a citizen and be convinced that the cabinet is working for the public. This feeling, unfortunately, is not clear for many citizens—and for me as well. Such a feeling simply does not exist.”

Rubinstein also said: “Politicization is taking place in all affairs—not only in the public service, which they ridicule and trample on, but also in the police. I also feel that this is happening in the army as well, and these are serious matters.”

He stressed that “this means that in all these institutions, matters are being advanced not on the basis of merit, but on the basis of connections. This politicization will have a destructive impact on the services that citizens receive.”