Dear President Herzog,
I watched your Fox News interview with great interest. You are a man I respect deeply - truly. And because I respect you, I want to respond directly and honestly to the three points you made. I believe, with great respect, that each one of them actually supports my position rather than yours.
First: "During the war there are no proceedings at all."
Mr. President, I thank you for making this point, because it actually strengthens the case for acting now rather than waiting. If there are no proceedings - none at all - then there is no legal process that needs to conclude before you act. Your own Supreme Court ruled in Barzilai v. Government of Israel that you possess the authority to grant a pardon even before an indictment is filed. Before charges. Before proceedings of any kind.
If that is the legal standard - and it is - then the absence of wartime proceedings is not a reason to delay. It is, if anything, the clearest possible moment to act.
Prime Minister Netanyahu's mind must be entirely focused on defending Israel.
You have the power to give him that clarity. The war does not pause your constitutional authority. It underscores the urgency of using it.
Second: "I am obliged under Israeli law to await opinions from the relevant authorities."
Mr. President, I have tremendous respect for legal process. But I would gently point your attention to what your own Supreme Court said in HCJ 849/00 Schatz v. Minister of Justice - that "mere custom could not limit a constitutional power, like the president's power to shorten sentences." If custom itself cannot limit your constitutional authority, it is worth asking whether an administrative requirement to await opinions can do what custom itself is prohibited from doing.
Your pardon power flows from the powrs you have been given - not from the Attorney General, not from a committee, and not from an opinion that has not yet been requested. You may of course choose to seek those opinions, and nobody would fault you for doing so. But the authority to act is yours, and it exists independent of any administrative process.
Third: "I am sworn to Israeli law, just as the American President is sworn to the American Constitution."
Mr. President, I agree with you completely - and this is precisely my point. The Israeli Supreme Court held in Katz v. President of the State that you are "not answerable to the court in relation to the performance of your functions or powers, including your power to reduce sentences."
That is Israeli law.
That is what you are sworn to uphold. And that law vests in you an extraordinary, constitutionally protected authority to exercise mercy - an authority that your own court has described as occupying a unique constitutional space, largely insulated from judicial second-guessing.
You are sworn to a system that trusts you with this power. That is a remarkable thing. It deserves to be exercised with the full confidence that was intended.
On the Migo - With Personal Respect
Mr. President, your grandfather Rabbi Isaac Herzog was one of the towering figures of twentieth century Jewish scholarship. Six volumes arguing that Jewish law should form the foundation of the Israeli legal system. Six volumes of vision, of dedication, and of profound legal thinking. I invoke his legacy not to score a point, but because I believe it is genuinely relevant.
The Talmudic principle of migo teaches that if a person possesses the power to achieve a greater result, they certainly possess the power to achieve a lesser one. You have the unquestioned authority to pardon a man who has been convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned. That is the greater power. Can it seriously be argued that you lack the lesser power to act now - before a verdict, during a war, when the stakes for Israel could not be higher?
Your grandfather believed that Jewish legal reasoning offered wisdom that secular law could not match. The principle of migo is a perfect example of that wisdom. It is logical, it is elegant, and in this case, it points clearly in one direction.
A Final Word
Mr. President, you said on Fox News that "everything is on the table." I take you at your word, and I respect you for saying it. I ask only that you consider this:
The table has been set, the authority is clear, the moment is now, and the Prime Minister of Israel needs to lead his people with a free and undivided mind.
You have the power. Your appointmet grants it. Your Supreme Court confirmed it. And the legal logic - including the remarkable principle your grandfather championed - supports it completely.
With great respect and warm regard for the State of Israel and for your distinguished office -
Donald J. Trump
The author can be reached at yairhoffman2@gmail.com