Since submitting a formal request for a pardon from Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been issuing explanations for what many of his supporters consider a disappointing move.

It didn’t come as a total surprise, of course. Toward the end of his historic address to the Knesset on Oct. 13, U.S. President Donald Trump conveyed a message to Herzog about this very issue.

“Hey, I have an idea,” Trump said, acknowledging that he was going off script. “Why don’t you give [Netanyahu] a pardon? … [I]t just seems to make so much sense. You know, whether we like it or not, this has been one of the greatest wartime [prime ministers]. … And cigars and champagne—who the hell cares about that, right?”

The following month, Trump submitted the entreaty in

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