Jerusalem, December 7, 2025 – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday categorically ruled out the possibility of leaving political life in exchange for a presidential pardon in his ongoing corruption trial, saying his future will be decided by Israeli voters, not by any deal.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Jerusalem with visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Netanyahu responded with humor when a reporter asked whether he would consider retiring in return for a pardon.
“They’re very concerned with my future,” Netanyahu said with a smile. “They want to make sure that — how shall I say this? — they’re concerned with my future.”
He quickly added, “Well, so are the voters, and they’ll decide, obviously, but we have big tasks to do — including with Germany in historic cooperation.”
Gesturing toward the 1.96-meter (6-foot-5) Merz), Netanyahu joked that the new cooperation “will, in many ways, tower over our previous cooperation, which was quite amazing… but that’s not surprising, because, as you can see, Chancellor Merz is a towering figure.”
The light-hearted exchange came just days after Netanyahu formally asked President Isaac Herzog for a pardon in the corruption cases against him. In that request, submitted last week, the prime minister did not admit any guilt and continued to insist the charges are part of a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
Netanyahu faces one count of bribery and three counts each of fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases involving allegations that he traded regulatory favors for positive media coverage and accepted expensive gifts from billionaire friends in exchange for political help. He has denied all wrongdoing since the investigation began years ago. He was indicted in 2019, and the trial, which started in May 2020, is expected to drag on for several more years.
Opposition leaders have repeatedly called for Netanyahu to step down because of the indictments, and some political observers had speculated that a pardon might come with the unofficial condition that he leave politics. Sunday’s remarks were the prime minister’s clearest rejection yet of any such arrangement.
President Herzog has said he will decide “only [according to] the good of the country” and is not expected to announce a decision for weeks or even months.
Public opinion appears largely against a pardon without contrition. A survey published last week by Zman Yisrael, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew-language sister site, found that 53.2% of Israelis oppose granting Netanyahu a pardon without him admitting guilt or expressing remorse, while 42.4% support it and 4.4% are undecided.
With Netanyahu showing no intention of stepping aside and the trial still far from conclusion, the debate over his legal fate — and its impact on Israeli politics — is certain to continue.
