THOUSANDS of angry Israelis rallied outside the home of President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv on Sunday demanding he reject the request by the country’s prime minister for a pardon.

The protests came hours after PM Benjamin Netanyahu petitioned for a full pardon from corruption charges.

One protester dressed up as Mr Netanyahu in an orange prison-style jumpsuit.

Shikma Bressler, a prominent anti-government activist, said: “He is asking that his trial will be completely cancelled without taking any responsibility, without paying the price for how he tore up this country.

“People of Israel understand what is at stake, and it really is the future of our country.”

Ami Dror, another protester, said the job of the country’s president was to “protect Israeli democracy and if you demolish law and order, this might be the end of Israeli democracy.”

But Mr Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners waded in behind the prime minister.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that Mr Netanyahu had “been persecuted for years by a corrupt judicial system that fabricated political cases against him.”

Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed a pardon would end the “deep rift that has accompanied Israeli society for nearly a decade.”

Mr Netanyahu has been on trial for five years on three separate cases alleging corruption, including charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

Opposition politician Yair Golan, a former deputy chief of the military, hit back, calling on the prime minister to resign and for the president to refuse to grant a pardon.

“Only the guilty seek a pardon,” he said.

One of the cases alleges that Mr Netanyahu and his wife Sara accepted more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods, such as jewellery, champagne and cigars in exchange for political favours.

Mr Netanyahu denies all the charges against him and says in his 111-page petition to the president that he believes the legal proceedings would find in his favour in any case.

There was no immediate comment from President Herzog about the protests but his office confirmed receiving the prime minister’s petition and said the president “will responsibly and sincerely consider the request.”

Beside the domestic charges against him, the Israeli PM also has an arrest warrant issued against him since November 2024 by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the genocidal war on the Palestinians in Gaza.

Former minister of defence Yoav Gallant also has a warrant against him for the same charges.