Politician close to Netanyahu: His pardon request will be granted.
According to the Hebrew-language newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, as a wave of domestic protests and criticism against the request for amnesty for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached its peak, Likud Energy Minister Eli Cohen announced his firm support for the request at a conference on transportation, infrastructure, and energy on Monday, predicting that Israeli President Isaac Herzog will approve it.
The remarks, made a day after Netanyahu officially sent the request for amnesty to Herzog, are a clear symbol of Netanyahu’s Likud party’s prioritization of political interests over the principle of equality before the law, where the right-wing ruling coalition in the cabinet seeks the prime minister’s immunity from prosecution to advance its goals, even if it comes at the cost of weakening the regime’s legal and constitutional institutions.
Cohen, who has a very close relationship with Netanyahu, described Netanyahu’s trial as detrimental to Israel’s interests in his remarks at the conference, which was attended by senior executives from the energy and transportation sectors, and emphasized, “We must end this matter. Because continuing Netanyahu’s trial for another 3 or 4 years, and perhaps beyond, is not in anyone’s interest.” He added: “I am sure that Herzog will address this issue and consider a pardon.”
Cohen went on to directly link the security of the Zionist regime to Netanyahu’s judicial immunity and emphasized that in the context of the escalation of Israel’s vital challenges in the region, it is no longer possible to bring the prime minister to court three times a week.
He continued to claim: “Netanyahu is a person who devotes all his time and energy to Israel’s interests. Even Israelis can say that he is not a corrupt person.”
However, these words, which were immediately echoed in the Hebrew-language media, created a sharp contrast with the wave of street protests last night (Sunday), in which thousands of people in Tel Aviv and occupied Jerusalem called the amnesty a “legal coup” and “the destruction of the rule of law.”
Cohen’s statements are not only personal support, but also a reflection of the strategy of the coalition ruling the Israeli government, which sees the trial of Netanyahu, which began in 2020 in separate cases known as One Thousand, Two Thousand, Three Thousand and Four Thousand on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, as an obstacle to achieving the coalition’s political goals and under the pretext of “internal unity” against external threats.
He accused the Tel Aviv court of “weakening Netanyahu’s position” and “reducing public trust in the judicial structure,” and suggested: “The right thing to do is to calm down and move towards an agreement.”