ISLAMABAD: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday claimed that the corruption cases against him were “tearing the country apart,” hours after he submitted a formal request for a pardon in the years-long proceedings.
“The continuation of the trial is tearing us apart from within, arousing fierce divisions, intensifying rifts,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, insisting that “an immediate end to the trial will greatly help to lower the flames and promote the broad reconciliation that our country so desperately needs.”
Netanyahu’s critics, however, say the embattled premier is attempting to shield himself from accountability after years of corruption allegations, including fraud, bribery and breach of trust, rather than seeking national unity.
The pardon request also lands at a moment of mounting international scrutiny.
The United Nations has noted that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The political reverberations have even reached the United States.
During an interview to ABC News, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani stated that he would order Netanyahu’s arrest if the Israeli leader attends the UN General Assembly in the city next year, citing the ICC warrants.
Mamdani was unequivocal: “New York enforces international law, and that means international law must be respected, including the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court, regardless of whether they target Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin, or anyone else.”
“It does not matter if they are against Benjamin Netanyahu or Vladimir Putin,” he added. “We are required to show our values.”
Netanyahu’s effort to secure a pardon, while still in office and without a conviction, has drawn sharp criticism at home and abroad, with opponents arguing that the attempt undermines Israel’s judiciary and deepens the political rifts the prime minister claims to lament
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