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Gone quiet · last update Nov 30, 2025 / Benjamin Netanyahu

Netanyahu's corruption trial and Trump's push for his pardon

Overview · reviewed October 24, 2026

Benjamin Netanyahu has been on trial on fraud and corruption charges while serving as Israel's prime minister. He took the stand for the first time in December 2024.[1] In November 2025, after President Donald Trump urged Israel's president to pardon him, he formally requested a pardon while insisting he had done nothing wrong.[2][3]

Read the timeline

Follow this story to see new developments when you return.

In November 2025, after President Donald Trump urged Israel's president to pardon him, he formally requested a pardon while insisting he had done nothing wrong.[2][3]

Coverage over time

Share of tracked outlets · monthly average of weekly shares (UTC)

Nov 2021: average weekly share 2% (left 1%, center 1%, right 1%), from 2 of 2 weeksDec 2021: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJan 2022: average weekly share 1% (left under 1%, center 1%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksFeb 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMar 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksApr 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMay 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksJun 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJul 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksAug 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksSep 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksOct 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksNov 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksDec 2022: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJan 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksFeb 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMar 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksApr 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMay 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksJun 2023: average weekly share 2% (left 1%, center 1%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJul 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksAug 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksSep 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksOct 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksNov 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksDec 2023: average weekly share under 1% (left under 1%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJan 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksFeb 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMar 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksApr 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksMay 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJun 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJul 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksAug 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksSep 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksOct 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksNov 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksDec 2024: average weekly share 4% (left 1%, center 3%, right 1%), from 5 of 5 weeksJan 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksFeb 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMar 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksApr 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMay 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJun 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksJul 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksAug 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksSep 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksOct 2025: average weekly share 1% (left under 1%, center under 1%, right 1%), from 4 of 4 weeksNov 2025: average weekly share 8% (left 1%, center 5%, right 1%), from 4 of 4 weeksDec 2025: average weekly share 1% (left 1%, center 1%, right under 1%), from 5 of 5 weeksJan 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksFeb 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMar 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksApr 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMay 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJun 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksJul 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksAug 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksSep 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksOct 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksNov 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 2 of 2 weeks, so far

LeftCenterRight

Each bar is the share of the outlets on our Left / Center / Right rating scale that we tracked publishing that week which carried reporting on this story, split by the outlets' ratings. Over more than two years each bar is a month: the average of that month's weekly shares, so the shape stays readable. The weekly table below keeps every week. We track more outlets now than in the archive, so a share keeps earlier and later weeks comparable. An outlet counts once a week however much it published, and outlets in one ownership or syndication group count as one on each side they appear on. A rating describes the outlet, not the report. A gap means no such reports were collected that week, not that nothing was reported anywhere. Weeks run Monday to Sunday in UTC, so a report published on a Sunday evening in US Eastern time counts in the next week. 7 more outlets off the scale (not rated, or outside the left-right graphs) also reported; they are not in this chart. See them.

Weekly counts, outlets and reports (13 weeks with coverage)
Outlets on the rating scale that carried this story each week, of the outlets tracked that week, newest first
Week of (UTC)LeftCenterRightOf trackedShareReceipts
Dec 1, 202556112 of 1777%
Nov 24, 2025418426 of 15317%
Nov 10, 2025417627 of 18814%
Oct 13, 20251157 of 1824%
Dec 23, 2024210416 of 1928%
Dec 9, 2024616729 of 20814%
Dec 4, 20232002 of 2171%
Jun 26, 20231203 of 2791%
Jun 19, 202356011 of 2634%
Jun 12, 20233306 of 2502%
Jan 17, 20222406 of 1843%
Jan 10, 20222305 of 2003%
Nov 22, 20212529 of 1865%

Latest coverage

The newest reporting in this story's record.

  1. Nov 29, 2025 · first reported · Headline from The Conversation US

    At Donald Trump’s prompting, Benjamin Netanyahu seeks a pardon – but insists he has done nothing wrong

Background

The trial continued while he was out of office. A former aide testified against him in November 2021,[4] and in January 2022 Netanyahu's lawyers were negotiating a possible plea deal with prosecutors.[5]

Read the full background (3 more paragraphs)

The trial went on after he returned to power. In June 2023, the opposition leader Yair Lapid testified that Netanyahu had tried to get him to back tax breaks for a Hollywood mogul,[6] and the producer Arnon Milchan acknowledged that his gifts to Netanyahu might have been "excessive."[7][8] The trial resumed in December 2023 despite the war against Hamas in Gaza.[9]

Netanyahu took the stand for the first time in December 2024,[1] and that month Israel's attorney general ordered an investigation into his wife, Sara, on suspicion of harassing political opponents and a witness in the trial.[10]

Trump then pressed for a pardon. In October 2025, in an address to the Knesset, Israel's , Trump asked Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, to pardon Netanyahu,[11] and in November he repeated the request in a letter.[2] Later that month Netanyahu formally asked for a pardon.[12][3]

Supporting stories (12)
  1. Netanyahu takes stand in fraud, corruption trial
  2. Trump calls for Netanyahu’s pardon in letter to Israel president
  3. At Donald Trump’s prompting, Benjamin Netanyahu seeks a pardon – but insists he has done nothing wrong
  4. Former Netanyahu aide testifies in ex-PM's corruption trial
  5. Netanyahu negotiating plea deal in corruption trial
  6. Israeli opposition leader says Netanyahu tried to get him to back tax breaks for Hollywood mogul
  7. Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan testifies at Netanyahu corruption trial over 'supply line' of gifts
  8. Hollywood mogul acknowledges gifts to Netanyahu may have been ‘excessive’
  9. Corruption trial of Israeli PM Netanyahu resumes
  10. Israel’s attorney general orders probe into Netanyahu’s wife on suspicion of witness harassment
  11. Trump urges Israeli president to pardon Benjamin Netanyahu in off-script moment: ‘Greatest wartime’ leader
  12. Israeli PM Netanyahu requests pardon in ongoing corruption trial

The full record

Each date is when an update was first reported.

All 12 recorded updates

November 2025

  1. At Donald Trump’s prompting, Benjamin Netanyahu seeks a pardon – but insists he has done nothing wrongHeadline from The Conversation US · 31 outlets
  2. Israeli PM Netanyahu requests pardon in ongoing corruption trialHeadline from ABC 17 Mid-Missouri · 7 outlets
  3. Trump calls for Netanyahu’s pardon in letter to Israel presidentHeadline from The Columbian · 29 outlets

October 2025

  1. Trump urges Israeli president to pardon Benjamin Netanyahu in off-script moment: ‘Greatest wartime’ leaderHeadline from New York Post · 8 outlets

December 2024

  1. Israel’s attorney general orders probe into Netanyahu’s wife on suspicion of witness harassmentHeadline from ABC 17 Mid-Missouri · 16 outlets
  2. Netanyahu takes stand in fraud, corruption trialHeadline from Arkansas Democrat-Gazette · 33 outlets

December 2023

  1. Corruption trial of Israeli PM Netanyahu resumesHeadline from Al Jazeera · 5 outlets

June 2023

  1. Hollywood mogul acknowledges gifts to Netanyahu may have been ‘excessive’Headline from Politico · 5 outlets
  2. Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan testifies at Netanyahu corruption trial over 'supply line' of giftsHeadline from NBC 6 South Florida · 14 outlets
  3. Israeli opposition leader says Netanyahu tried to get him to back tax breaks for Hollywood mogulHeadline from Minneapolis Star Tribune · 6 outlets

January 2022

  1. Netanyahu negotiating plea deal in corruption trialHeadline from WFMZ Allentown · 15 outlets

November 2021

  1. Former Netanyahu aide testifies in ex-PM's corruption trialHeadline from ABC 17 Mid-Missouri · 10 outlets

Coverage & sources

Read the reports, see how much was collected over time, or compare outlets by political leaning.

Coverage & sources →