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Israel is facing a moment without precedent: a sitting prime minister on trial for corruption is now asking the president for a pardon. 

Benjamin Netanyahu has spent years fighting charges of fraud, breach of trust, and accepting gifts from wealthy associates. The trial has dragged on through political crises, judicial reform battles, and two years of war. He insists he’s the target of a political conspiracy. Others say the case is a test of whether Israel’s leaders can ever be held accountable.

Now he argues the trial is hurting the country — and wants President Isaac Herzog to bring it to an end.

The move has split Israelis. Supporters say a pardon would allow the nation to turn the page. Critics warn it would set a dangerous precedent and undermine public trust in the rule of law. And into this already charged moment stepped President Trump, urging Herzog to grant the pardon and calling the prosecution politically motivated.

In this episode, Dr. Michael Oren joins host Aviva Klompas to break down the stakes: what a pardon would mean for Israel’s democracy and how it could reshape the political map.