New York Times: President Herzog Isn't Planning to Pardon Netanyahu, Considering Mediation Instead

According to a report published today (Sunday) in the New York Times, President Isaac Herzog does not plan to grant a pardon to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the near future and is instead considering advancing a mediation effort between the sides that could lead to an agreement. Officials who spoke with the paper said the decision comes against the backdrop of the war and the approaching elections, and emphasized that Herzog "is well aware of the tense atmosphere in the country."

According to the report, at this stage no concrete principles for a possible agreement have been presented, in part because the parties have not yet consented to a mediation process. However, those officials said the president believes that a mediation move may be "the only way" to heal the rifts in Israeli society.

It was also reported that Herzog is considering allowing informal talks under his auspices, to be held between the State Attorney's Office and the Attorney General on one side and Netanyahu's attorneys on the other.

The President's Residence did not deny the details and said that "as he has stated several times in the past, President Isaac Herzog views reaching an arrangement between the parties in Prime Minister Netanyahu's cases as an appropriate and correct solution. Contacts toward an arrangement are an essential part of the effort to bring the sides to agreements." They also noted that "the president believes that first, before the discussion of the pardon request itself, it is right to exhaust a process that could lead to formulating an arrangement between the parties, outside the courthouse walls."