The Pardon Trap
A pardon sounds merciful on the surface, but legally it implies guilt.
Everyone’s reading this letter as a gesture of support for Netanyahu. Trump urging President Herzog to pardon him, calling him a “formidable War-Time Prime Minister.”
But what if that’s not the real play?
A pardon closes the case, but it also removes the shield. Once that happens, Bibi stands as a private citizen, not a sitting prime minister and a private citizen can be expelled, investigated, or even extradited if the winds shift.
Trump’s phrasing is telling: “Now that we have achieved these unprecedented successes… it is time to let Bibi unite Israel by pardoning him.”
Removing the final chess piece that keeps the old guard in place.
Trump has done this before, he often praises those he intends to neutralize, using their own narratives to expose them. It’s the same pattern again and again; mercy on the surface, justice underneath.
This is the art of war.