This is a truly unprecedented situation.
An Israeli prime minister, in the midst of a trial that has already been going on for years, requesting a pardon even though he hasn’t been convicted.
And he is doing so with the backing of the American president, whose goodwill – by contrast to growing international condemnation – now sits at the heart of Israeli government policy.
Benjamin Netanyahu insists he will be exonerated, even if the trial does come to a conclusion.
His argument, framed across 111 pages, is that the trial is such a distraction that it is damaging the national interest and affecting his ability to govern.
He also claims that the investigation was fuelled by the malicious intent to incriminate him “at all costs”, despite his decades of public service.
But there will be others who argue the absolute reverse – that the whole structure of justice depends on holding people to account, however powerful they may be.
How, the question will be asked, can you pardon someone who hasn’t been convicted? What sort of a precedent would this set?
We know Donald Trump wants Netanyahu pardoned, and has said so publicly, which leaves President Isaac Herzog in an incredibly difficult spot.
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He will want to show his independence, and certainly his advisers are not necessarily Netanyahu supporters.
As president, he is expected to rise above the fray of party politics and make his own decision.
But will he really want to go against Trump – the will of the most powerful man in the world, who has offered such crucial diplomatic support to Israel since returning to office?
And, with a general election scheduled for less than a year’s time, how quickly will he come to his conclusion?
