The news hit the headlines in Israel without warning: On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Isaac Herzog to grant him a preemptive pardon, ending his corruption trial. It would be a highly controversial, almost unprecedented move, as presidential pardons are usually only granted after a conviction.

Yedioth Ahronoth, one of Israel’s leading daily newspapers, on Monday ran with the headline “The pardon dilemma,” while free right-wing daily Israel Hayom acknowledged that “the request is unusual and carries significant implications.”

In a televised video statement, Netanyahu argued that while it was in his personal interest to prove his innocence in court, it was also in the national interest to cut short the trial, which he claimed was “tearing us apart.”

Read on DW.

Netanyahu is using war to escape accountability.

If the charges against him are politically motivated and false, a trial would discredit his accusers and not Netanyahu.

It seems to me that the Israeli Prime Minister is not convinced that he would be found innocent of the charges.

In the past, politicians have used wars and other crises in order to avoid being held accountable for misdeeds.

The question is whether the Israeli people will object to war as an excuse to drop indictments against Netanyahu.

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Via https://www.globalresearch.ca/netanyahu-under-indictment-robbery-fraud-breach-trust/5908082