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

Let's update you on events in the Middle East. Israeli President Herzog has

received a letter from President Trump asking him to grant a pardon to Benjamin

Netanyahu. The Prime Minister has been facing a longunning corruption trial,

and President Trump has repeatedly asked for a pardon for his close ally.

Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 in three cases, including allegations of

receiving more than $200,000 in gifts from billionaires in exchange for

political favors. Mr. Netanyahu denies the charges and has pleaded not guilty.

Well, in the letter shared by Mr. Herzog's office, Trump said, "While I

absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli justice system and its

requirements, I believe that this case against Bivby, who has fought alongside

me for a long time, including against the very tough adversary of Israel,

Iran, is a political unjustified prosecution." Let's take you to our Middle East

correspondent, Yolan Nell, who joins us now from Jerusalem. Yolan, what is the

remmit of Israel's president here and and has he responded? >> So, Israel's president can give a

presidential pardons and in his uh comments from his office, he said that

there are established procedures for that and there must be a formal request

for a presidential pardon. Of course, the Israeli prime minister has denied any wrongdoing in his

seem to be having problems with our uh connection to Jerusalem at the moment.

More on that though. Uh and the latest that is happening in the Middle East as

well. An update to bring you on the dozens of Israeli settlers who have

carried out an arson attack targeting Palestinian factories and farmland in

the north of the occupied West Bank. Several Palestinians were injured. This

is the latest in a surge of attacks in recent weeks linked to the olive harvest

which officially began on the 9th of October. The harvest is an age-old part

of Palestinian culture. It is also an economic necessity for many but is

increasingly precarious. Farmers across the occupied West Bank face heightened

risk during harvest season, including organized assaults by settlers and the

use of force by Israeli security forces to block roads and Palestinians access

to their lands. Settlers are the people who live in Israeli settlements, which

are illegal colonies established on Israeli occupied Palestinian

territories. Last week, a UN report said that Israeli settlers launched at least

264 attacks in October, the largest number since the UN began tracking

incidents in 2006. In this latest case, the Israeli military says its troops

were attacked when they detained four Israeli settlers in the occupied West

Bank. We can take you back to your land. We've reestablished the connection with

her, our Middle East correspondent uh joining us from Jerusalem. We'll get

back to the letter being that has been sent from President Trump Isaac Herzog

in a moment your land but but firstly what is the latest uh in terms of this

settler attack in the occupied West Bank. >> So one of the latest most dramatic

attacks has been in the north of the West Bank where dozens of masked

settlers could be seen on a hillside in footage. There were then these attacks

on a Palestinian Bedawin village where tents were set ablaze and there were men

afterwards with their heads bandaged by Palestinian paramedics in the videos

that can be seen. There were also um attacks on a Palestinian dairy warehouse

lorries that were set on fire as well. And the Israeli military says that it

tried to detain suspects um and then its soldiers were also attacked. um those

suspects since handed over to uh Israeli police. We understand in general in such

cases there are complaints from Palestinians that there is impunity um

for the settlers. They say this is one of the factors that has driven a surge

in settler violence recently. Um and they say that the aim of the settlers is

really to intimidate them to spread fear and try to drive Palestinians off their

own land. And you landed, you were explaining to us about the remitt of the

Israeli president and whether there had been an official response from his

office to this call from President Trump to pardon Benjamin Netanyahu.

So his office decided to publish the letter that came through from President

Trump. Um this extraordinary intervention really in Israeli domestic

affairs. Um even though Mr. Trump is somebody who we know is being outspoken.

He's made no secret of his support uh for his close ally, the Israeli Prime

Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Um he spoke to the Israeli Parliament last month and

he said to them, "Cigars and champagne. Who the hell cares about that?" Uh

referring to alleged bribes in uh one of the cases against Mr. Netanyahu. He

denies all wrongdoing in his ongoing trial. Um the Israeli president Isaac

Kerzel does have this power to give a pardon, but he has said that there are

established procedures and he has to have a formal request for a presidential pardon.

>> Where are we at in terms of his corruption trial? Yand >> I mean that trial is ongoing and it's

still considered to be uh to have a long way to run. Um that is something that

really has continued to overshadow uh Israeli politics. Um and you know,

previous Israeli elections were very much influenced by this um ongoing legal

action against the prime minister. Uh it's seen as being something that very

much kind of, you know, um overshadows the Israeli political scene. Um there

are those of course close to Mr. Netanyahu who believe that this is just

a political witch hunt. That's what the prime minister has said himself. He

wants to see these cases against him uh thrown out. Uh but many ordinary

Israelis are very shocked I think by the fact that the um US president has just

been so ready to get involved in um you know the affairs o of of another country

especially a close ally although Mr. Trump does write in his letter um that

he he does you know accept he absolutely um respects he says the independence of

the Israeli justice system but he says he believes this is a political

unjustified prosecution. Yolan, thank you so