Hundreds of outraged Israelis gathered at President Isaac Herzog’s private residence on Sunday night, arguing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s shocking petition for a presidential pardon represents a fatal blow to Israel’s so-called “democratic foundations.”
Waving placards reading “Amnesty = Banana Republic” and stacking bananas outside the gates, the demonstrators (some wearing orange prison jumpsuits modeled after a pleading Netanyahu) demanded that Herzog reject what they called a brazen attempt to bring the embattled leader above the law.
The demonstrations erupted within hours of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 76, presenting a 111-page petition asking for full leniency over a five-year corruption scandal (three separate charges involving bribery, fraud and breach of trust), without admitting guilt or showing any remorse.
Netanyahu, who once defiantly said he would never seek amnesty, has argued that a prolonged trial would “tear the country apart” and undermine security on multiple conflict fronts.
Opposition leaders from all walks of life stood together in a rare formation. “Only those who have committed crimes seek amnesty,” declared Yair Golan, chairman of the Democratic Party and former deputy military chief of staff.
Yair Lapid argued that any mercy requires confession, remorse, and immediate political retirement. Benny Gantz accused Netanyahu of “arson robbery” and used the plea to divert attention from Netanyahu’s coalition government’s ultra-Orthodox draft exemption bill and broader governance failures.
The crisis at home collides with Netanyahu’s pariah status abroad. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for him and former army minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. More than 70,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and 170,900 injured in two years of Israeli military operations in Gaza, according to Gaza health authorities, with indirect deaths likely to be even higher.
The request, which Herzog’s office sent to the Justice Department for review, is complicated by overt political interference from US President Donald Trump, who asked for leniency and privately labeled the trial an “unwarranted political prosecution.”
Critics have warned that granting the plea – which protects Netanyahu from domestic corruption charges – despite the fact that he faces international prosecution for war crimes by the ICC, would emphasize a regime more obsessed with his personal legal survival than responsibility for Gaza’s humanitarian devastation.