Israel's Bibi seeks pardon

ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on trial facing corruption charges, announced at the weekend he had submitted a pardon request, saying the long-running cases were tearing the country apart.

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US President Donald Trump wrote to Israeli President Isaac Herzog earlier this month, asking him to pardon Netanyahu, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the proceedings.

“The trial in my case has been ongoing for nearly six years, and is expected to continue for many more years,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, without admitting guilt.

He explained he wanted to see the process through until acquittal, “but the security and political reality - the national interest — dictate otherwise.

“The continuation of the trial is tearing us apart from within, arousing fierce divisions, intensifying rifts,’ he added.

The cases against Netanyahu have exposed divisions in Israeli society between his supporters and opponents. Netanyahu’s backers dismiss the trials as politically motivated.

The premier and his wife Sara are accused in one case of accepting more than $260 000 (about R4.4 million) worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewellery and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favours.

He is also accused of attempting to negotiate more favourable coverage from two Israeli media outlets in two other cases.

Netanyahu said the demand for him to testify three times a week had “tipped the scales’, calling it an “impossible requirement”.