Overview
- Herzog’s office invited Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, state prosecutor Amit Aisman and defense lawyer Amit Haddad to a preparatory meeting.
- The presidency cast the talks as a first step before any use of clemency powers and said no immediate pardon is on the table.
- Netanyahu requested a pardon in November and says the proceedings have deepened national divisions.
- He denies wrongdoing in two media-for-favors cases and a gifts case valued at more than $260,000, and one charge was dropped.
- U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Herzog to grant clemency, including a Knesset speech and a formal letter last fall.