President Reuven Rivlin will consider pardoning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in exchange for the PM retiring from political life and confessing to the crimes of which he is accused, Channel 12 reported Wednesday night.
According to the report, Netanyahu has not yet responded to the idea that is being floated by a variety of third parties, though in the past he rejected any talk of a plea bargain or pardon.
Long before Netanyahu was initially indicted in February and finally indicted on November 21, his former lawyer, Jacob Weinroth – who died on October 16, 2018, had tried to convince the prime minister to take a similar deal, but was rebuffed.
The report also said that Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit would support such a deal, a view reported exclusively by The Jerusalem Post in June 2018.
Despite the report, neither Rivlin nor Mandelblit have formally and publicly extended any offers.
However, pressure for such a deal may now be at an all-time high to avoid a third election.
Several politicians see Netanyahu as a road block, claiming if he were to resign that Blue and White and Likud could quickly reach an agreement for a unity government before the deadline of Wednesday, December 11.
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