S3 E55. Netanyahu’s Push for a Presidential Pardon

Joining State of Tel Aviv and Beyond today is Professor Suzie Navot, one of Israel’s foremost constitutional law experts currently serving as Vice President of the Israel Democracy Institute.

For six years now Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been on trial for multiple corruption charges. He does not hide his contempt for the judicial system which he considers to be rotten to the core. A consistent theme of his leadership for the last decade has been to relentlessly attack the judiciary and law enforcement institutions for being an elitist, self-serving clique that is also left leaning and determined to sabotage the policies of his successive government coalitions. Most recently, Netanyahu has enlisted the support of U.S. President Trump to publicly pressure President Isaac Herzog to grant him a pardon; to make the charges and the trial just go away. Two months ago, in signature Trump larger-than-life theatrics, the American president implored his Israeli counterpart to just give Bibi a pardon already. Raucous applause filled the Knesset hall - where Trump was speaking - but the din has since died down. Pardoning Netanyahu is no simple matter - legally, politically or in terms of social mores. But Netanyahu is not relenting. In the last two weeks, Bibi and his lawyer sent written documents to President Herzog setting out what they state is the legal rationale for granting a pardon. Interestingly, they present Netanyahu as the man who is needed to heal the country and manage the security and diplomatic challenges free from distractions - like the trial. But, as Prof. Navot notes - Benjamin Netanyahu is charged personally with corruption-related offenses. He is not the state. And he is not above the law. With clarity and precision, Prof. Navot explains why the Netanyahu pardon request does not meet Israeli legal requirements and this request places President Herzog in a very difficult spot.

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Podcast Notes

Professor Suzie Navot is a Professor of Constitutional Law. She holds an LL. B degree from Tel-Aviv University, an MA in Public Policy from Tel-Aviv University and a LL.D from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her doctoral thesis studied the parliamentary immunity of the Knesset members.

Prof. Navot’s areas of research include constitutional law, law of institutions, parliamentary law and comparative constitutional law.

Prior to her appointment to IDI. she served on the faculty of the Striks Faculty of Law, College of Management. For over ten years, she served as a visiting Professor at the National Security College, and from 2009 until 2015, as a visiting Professor at the University of Paris (Sorbonne).

Navot has served as the Chairperson of the Israeli Association of Public Law (2014-2017), currently serves on the executive council of the Israeli Association of Legislation and is a member of the Executive Council of the International Association of Constitutional Law (IACL).

She is active in a wide range of public activities. A small selection of these activities includes her service on public commissions dealing with such issues as an Ethics Code for the Israeli Parliament, the Presidential volunteers’ award; the preparation of a new law on election propaganda (appointed by the Israeli President and the Chair of the Central Elections Committee), and was appointed by the Prime Minster to the board of directors for the Civil Service education program. Since 2021, Prof. Navot serves as a member of the commission tasked with preparing a draft of the Basic Law: The Legislature, presided by the Minister of Justice.

Navot has published widely in several languages. She has prepared written opinions for Knesset committees and for the President of Israel on constitutional questions. She received a special award from the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, the prestigious Zeltner prize for a special contribution to Israeli society in the field of law, and the “Ometz” award for a special contribution to the battle against corruption.

In recognition of her extraordinary teaching skills, Navot was the recipient of the teaching excellence nomination, for almost 30 consecutive years, and the Inspiring Lecturer award, by the National Students Union.

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