Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz has thrown his weight behind a call for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be pardoned of corruption charges, arguing the cases are “non-existent” and should never have been filed, especially as Israel wages a multi-front war.
Appearing on Newsmax’s “The Record with Greta Van Susteren” on Monday, Dershowitz echoed former President Donald Trump’s recent suggestion that Israeli President Isaac Herzog should issue a pardon to promote national unity.
“Of course he should be pardoned. He never should have been indicted in the first place,” Dershowitz asserted. He compared the charges against Netanyahu to the legal troubles facing Trump in the U.S., claiming the cases against the Israeli leader are “politically driven.”
Legal Battles Amid Wartime
Netanyahu has been facing corruption charges in Israel for years, which have now been complicated by an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November 2024 for alleged war crimes tied to the Gaza campaign. The ICC warrant places Netanyahu at risk of arrest in 124 member countries. President Herzog previously denounced the ICC’s move as a display of “bad faith.”
Dershowitz, who says he has been advising Netanyahu on both his domestic legal issues and the ICC case, strongly criticized the continuation of the trial during the conflict.
“The idea that a country puts on trial its prime minister, while its prime minister is waging a five-front war, is absolutely absurd,” he stated, recounting his efforts in Israel to urge the attorney general to either drop or postpone the cases until the war’s conclusion. “Politics prevails over justice, often in Israel, as it does in the United States.”
Defending Trump’s Intervention
Dershowitz dismissed the notion that it was inappropriate for Trump to call for the pardon, arguing that President Herzog, despite his Labor Party background, represents all Israelis.
“I think he will want to do the right thing,” Dershowitz said of Herzog, expressing hope that the pardon call would spur action. “He’s the president of all Israelis.”
The professor emeritus also framed the day’s events—including the release of the last 20 living Israeli hostages by Hamas under a peace deal brokered by Trump—as a major victory. He called it “a great day” for the Palestinian people, Arabs in the Gulf, and Israelis, noting the emotional reunion of Avinatan Or and Noa Argamani, who were abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
The push for a pardon comes as Netanyahu faces unprecedented challenges to his leadership, grappling with both domestic legal jeopardy and international criminal allegations while managing the ongoing conflict.
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