Donald Trump Sends Pardon Letter to Israeli President

U.S. President Donald Trump sent a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog asking that he pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, repeating more formally a previous request made during his speech to the Knesset last month.

Newsweek has contacted Netanyahu's and Herzog's offices for comment.

The move adds pressure on Herzog to pardon Netanyahu, a polarizing figure in Israel but a staunch ally of Trump's, and is a rare direct intervention in the legal processes of an allied democracy by a U.S. president, one that could undermine its judiciary's independence. Trump sees Netanyahu's legal troubles as an echo of his own in the U.S., which he has called a "witch hunt."