Media: Israeli President Plans to Seek Netanyahu's Guilty Plea

Israeli President Isaac Herzog would like to obtain a guilty plea from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instead of pardoning him in the corruption case, RIA Novosti reports, citing the New York Times and senior Israeli officials.

"Herzog does not plan to pardon Netanyahu anytime soon. Instead, he will first attempt to initiate a mediation process to reach a plea agreement," the newspaper stated.

The newspaper's sources emphasized that the president is committed to strengthening unity and therefore does not currently plan to respond to Netanyahu's pardon request, preferring to resolve the issue through negotiations.

As a reminder, hearings in long-standing cases against the Israeli prime minister began in the Tel Aviv District Court in December 2024. Several criminal cases are under investigation against Netanyahu.

The most serious charges of bribery are in the so-called "Case 4000," which relates to lobbying for the interests of the country's largest telecommunications group, Bezeq, in exchange for positive coverage of Netanyahu on the popular online news site Walla, which is controlled by the company.