President Yitzhak Herzog does not intend to grant a pardon to the prime minister at this stage - and he intends to initiate a mediation process that will lead to an agreement between Netanyahu and the prosecution.
This was reported today (Sunday) in the New York Times by senior Israeli officials.
According to the report, Herzog believes that there are additional alternatives beyond granting a pardon, primarily promoting a plea bargain.
Sources familiar with the details were quoted in the report as saying that the president wants to work towards an arrangement rather than a direct decision on the issue. According to them, "the president is well aware of the tense atmosphere in the country, due to the war, and against the backdrop of the upcoming elections.".
It was also reported that Herzog sees his role as a unifying factor in Israeli society, and therefore does not intend to make a decision on the pardon at this time.
The report further states that "Herzog is proposing a way out of the mess, according to the sources, by holding informal talks under the auspices of the president, between the attorney general's office and the legal advisor to the government, on the one hand, and Netanyahu's lawyers from the past, on the other.".
The President's Office stated: "As expressed several times in the past, President Yitzhak Herzog sees reaching an agreement between the parties in Prime Minister Netanyahu's cases as a proper and correct solution. Negotiations for an agreement are a necessary part of the attempt to bring the parties to an agreement.".
""Therefore, the President believes that it is appropriate first, before discussing the pardon request itself, to exhaust a process that could lead to the formulation of an agreement between the parties, outside the walls of the court.".
