President Isaac Herzog has consistently prioritized mediation toward a plea deal in Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial over any immediate review of the prime minister’s November 2025 pardon request. The Ministry of Justice Pardons Department advised in March 2026 that it could neither confirm the president’s authority nor recommend clemency before conviction or an admission of responsibility, while the attorney general is expected to oppose such an extraordinary step. Coalition ministers have pressed for a pardon citing national security needs, yet Herzog has rejected external pressure and signaled that unity requires exhausting negotiations first. The trial remains in the cross-examination phase with no verdict expected before late 2026, and upcoming national elections on October 27 add further uncertainty around Netanyahu’s political future. These procedural and institutional barriers underpin trader consensus that a pardon remains unlikely in the near term absent a major shift in the president’s stance or a completed plea arrangement.