Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has found himself to be an outlier among his Democratic colleagues once again, this time as part of his direct appeal for Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Fetterman told the Washington Examiner on Thursday that his pardon request, made in a recent letter to Herzog that was first reported by Talking Points Memo, for Netanyahu to be cleared of his yearslong public corruption trial would be in the wartime nation’s best interest.
“I don’t know why you’d want to distract the prime minister during this very critical time, and it’s really, I think, it’s small ball, honestly,” Fetterman said of the bribery, fraud, and breach of trust charges facing Netanyahu across three cases.
“Why would you bog him down and the nation?” he continued. “And that also creates an opportunity for the critics here and [Israel] to just point to that.”
Herzog’s office said in recent weeks that the president was considering a personal pardon appeal from Netanyahu “with great care and responsibility.”
But the direct pardon request from a U.S. senator to a foreign nation’s leader — albeit a close ally — is an unusual one. Fetterman’s ardent support for Israel during its yearslong war with Gaza has alienated many of his more liberal colleagues and the Democratic Party’s base, a point the centrist senator alluded to in an interview at the U.S. Capitol.
“I guarantee I’d be the only Democrat to feel that way,” he said of a Netanyahu pardon. “I’m aware I’ve been an outlier on Israel, but I think — that’s what I strongly believe. That’s the right outcome.”
Fetterman did not consult with Netanyahu or the White House about seeking a pardon and had yet to receive a response from Herzog.
NETANYAHU SUBMITS PARDON REQUEST DURING CORRUPTION TRIAL
Netanyahu was indicted in 2019, began his trial in 2020, and started testimony last year that has since been repeatedly delayed. He’s maintained his innocence against charges in the separate but related cases that he accepted bribes in exchange for actions benefiting wealthy supporters and businessmen.
“I think coming from a Democrat that’s been very, very unapologetically supportive of Israel, that it’s really not politics or my party, it’s what’s right for Israel,” Fetterman said. “And I can’t imagine what is the upside to carry this [trial] out.”