Trump urges Israel’s president to pardon Benjamin Netanyahu | BBC News

From BBC News.

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has received a letter from US President Donald Trump formally urging him to "fully pardon" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu has been standing trial for the past five years on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in connection with three separate cases. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Herzog’s office said he held Trump "in the highest regard", but that anyone seeking a pardon had to submit a formal request.

There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu, but he has previously thanked Trump for similar calls he has made in speeches and on social media.

Trump’s letter comes following a recent surge in Israeli settler violence coinciding with the olive harvest season, when Palestinians head to their agricultural land around towns and villages in the occupied West Bank.

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