Why Israel must support a presidential pardon for Benjamin Netanyahu — now

A nation fighting for its survival cannot afford a prime minister dragged into court three times a week over cigars, champagne, and favorable newspaper headlines.

Israel today stands in the center of a perfect storm: a war for Jewish survival, a global explosion of antisemitism, a diplomatic onslaught, a propaganda war unlike anything we have ever seen, and a regional inferno stoked by Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah. No moment since the Holocaust has carried stakes this high.

And yet Israel is simultaneously insisting that its democratically elected prime minister — the man tasked with defending the Jewish people from annihilation — spend three mornings a week sitting in a courtroom, under oath, fighting charges so trivial they would be laughed out of any serious nation’s justice system.

It is madness. It is national self-harm. And it cannot continue.

It is time — long past time — for the Israeli public to support a presidential pardon for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Not because he is above the law. Not because he is infallible. But because Israel is at war, and democracies at war must prioritize survival over prosecutorial theatrics.

This is not a legal argument. This is a national argument. This is about Israel’s existence.

I have known Netanyahu personally for 40 years. Like his hero brother Yoni before him, he lives to protect the Jewish people.

Let me begin with full transparency.

I have known Benjamin Netanyahu personally for four decades. I have been welcomed into his innermost circle. I have known his family, and I loved his father and hosted him at Oxford, London, and Cambridge. I have observed Bibi’s work ethic up close. And I have seen his lifelong sacrifices for Israel.

Like any man of history and leader of destiny, he is of course flawed and imperfect. But corrupt? Or God forbid someone who would sell out the security of his people to stay in office? That’s putrid hogwash and garbage. Period.

I know his character. I know his values. I know what motivates him. I know the burdens he carries and the pressures he has endured on behalf of the Jewish people. And he operates with a singular, overriding purpose: to ensure the Jewish people live and not die.

Yea, I have known Netanyahu for 40 years. He is not a thief or a schemer. He is a man who has devoted every fiber of his being to securing the Jewish nation.

Does he have an ego? Naturally. Every leader does. Does he have political enemies? More than any Israeli leader since Ben-Gurion.

But the suggestion that cigars, champagne, and a conversation with a newspaper editor amount to historic corruption is so absurd that even President Donald Trump — no stranger to political warfare — called the accusations “the weakest corruption case in political history.” And the man is right.

Let’s break down what Israel is tearing itself apart over:

Case 1000 — gifts between friends

Netanyahu received cigars and champagne from wealthy acquaintances. Is it ideal? No. Is it a bribe that altered Israeli policy? Absurd.

Case 2000 — talking to a newspaper owner

Netanyahu discussed potential media coverage with a publisher. Politicians everywhere do this daily, openly.

Case 4000 — media coverage for regulatory decisions

This is the weakest of all — a prosecution contortion. Every democratic leader deals with media influence and government policy simultaneously. These are not corruption cases. They are political disagreements dressed up as felonies. And Israelis know it.

The charges are not just weak — they make the entire justice system look unserious during an existential crisis.

Israel is at war, and you cannot have a part-time prime minister

This is the core of the matter. Israel is expected to function with a prime minister who must leave war briefings, postpone urgent national-security meetings, ignore diplomatic crises, and appear in court three mornings a week under cross-examination.

This is lunacy.

Can you imagine Churchill stopping the War Cabinet to respond to prosecutors asking whether a donor bought him cigars?

Can you picture Roosevelt managing the Normandy invasion while defending himself in court over whether newspaper coverage was too favorable?

Can you imagine Zelensky leaving wartime bunkers to testify about gifts from personal friends?

Israel is the only country on earth doing this to itself. This is not sustainable. This is not moral. This is not responsible wartime governance.

Whether you support Netanyahu or cannot stand him, the following truth is unavoidable: Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the most experienced strategic leaders in the Middle East, if not the world. No one understands Iran’s nuclear ambitions better. No one has more diplomatic victories under his belt. No one has fought harder — and more effectively — on the global stage for Israel’s legitimacy. No one has navigated U.S.-Israel relations with more skill. No one has handled more wars, more security crises, or more knife-edge decisions.

And Israel is willingly hobbling him over… cigars.

This is not just absurd — it is dangerous. Israel cannot bench its most seasoned strategic leader during a war that may define Jewish history for a century.

Israel’s prosecution of Netanyahu is not only misguided — it is obsessive. It is political lawfare masquerading as judicial integrity. The legal system did not pursue Netanyahu because of cigars. It pursued him because of politics.

A permanent elite, frustrated by Netanyahu’s dominance and resentful of his popularity and, no doubt, his right-wing policies and justified opposition to a Palestinian terror state, used the courts to achieve a political victory they could not win in elections.

This is not justice. This is judicial activism crossing the line into political intervention. A pardon is the only mechanism Israel has to stop this downward spiral.

Some Israelis misunderstand pardons. A pardon does not equal innocence. A pardon does not erase controversy. A pardon does not rewrite history.

A pardon is statecraft. It is a recognition that continuing the prosecution is more damaging to the nation than the alleged offense. It is an act of prioritization.

Israel must choose survival over symbolism. War over courtroom theater. The Jewish future over legalistic pride.

October 7 was not a terror attack. It was a civilizational earthquake. It shattered illusions. It exposed global antisemitism. It demonstrated that Jewish security cannot be taken for granted for a single moment. It reminded the world — and Israel — that Jewish survival hangs by a thread.

In such a moment, the question is simple: What matters more? Defeating Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah? Or prosecuting Netanyahu over cigars?

If we cannot answer that, Israel is in far deeper trouble than we realize.

Let’s speak honestly. Netanyahu is far from perfect. He has made political errors. He has alienated allies. He has been involved in unnecessary drama. But he remains — objectively — one of the most capable strategic minds in the region.

A pardon does not glorify him. It simply acknowledges reality. Israel needs him focused, undistracted, and at full force. Anything else is reckless.

Iran is united in its hatred of Israel. Hamas is united. Hezbollah is united. Even the antisemitic mobs in Western capitals are united. Yet Israel is bitterly divided internally — dangerously so.

A pardon removes one of the most toxic flashpoints in Israeli society. It will not fix every divide — but it will remove the single most radioactive legal-political bomb in Israel’s domestic landscape. It allows Israel to fight outward, not inward.

Let’s be brutally honest.

If Netanyahu were not prime minister, these cases would vanish overnight. No prosecutor in Israel would waste another minute pursuing them. The fact that Israel insists on dragging this circus forward during war is an act of national self-harm.

The question Israelis must ask themselves is stark: Do we want to win this war or not? If the answer is yes, then a pardon ceases to be political and becomes an act of national preservation.

President Isaac Herzog is a thoughtful, moderate, principled leader. I have known him for decades (he used to joke with me about my book “Kosher Sex” and has a wonderful sense of humor and warmth) and I have the highest respect for him. He is a man of humility, decency, integrity, and goodness. He will act responsibly — if the public demands it clearly.

This must not be framed as a favor to Netanyahu. It must be framed as a wartime necessity for Israel.

Herzog’s role is to heal the nation. And pardoning Netanyahu is a first, essential step toward that healing.

Israel is at an inflection point. One path leads to unity, clarity, and victory. The other leads to chaos, distraction, and unnecessary weakness. A pardon for Benjamin Netanyahu is not about absolving one man. It is about protecting ten million Israelis, Jews, Arabs, and Christians. It is about ensuring that the Jewish people do not fight an existential war with their prime minister chained to a courtroom bench.

History will judge this moment. And history is merciless to nations that engage in self-destruction during war. The time to support a pardon is now. The time to choose unity is now. The time to act is now.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach of Englewood is the author of “Judaism for Everyone” and “The Israel Warrior.” Follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @RabbiShmuley.Rabbi

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