U.S.–Israel Relations and Iran War

In a March 5 phone interview with Axios, President Donald Trump said Israeli President Isaac Herzog must pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "today," calling Herzog "a disgrace" for not acting and insisting Netanyahu should focus solely on the war against Iran rather than his ongoing corruption trial. Trump claimed Herzog had privately promised him five times over the past year to grant a pardon and accused him of using it as political leverage, while vowing not to meet Herzog until the pardon is issued. Herzog’s office publicly pushed back, saying he never promised a pardon, that any request is still undergoing legal review, and that Israel is a "sovereign state governed by the rule of law" that will not be influenced by external pressure. Israeli legal experts quoted in the piece warn that any pardon issued now could be challenged in Israel’s Supreme Court as the product of foreign political coercion, even though Netanyahu’s trial is already suspended because courts are largely closed under wartime emergency measures. The episode underscores the degree of direct U.S. presidential involvement in Israel’s internal legal system during an active joint war with Iran, raising questions about rule‑of‑law norms and wartime decision‑making in a key U.S. ally.