President Isaac Herzog’s April 2026 decision to defer any pardon ruling and instead pursue mediation toward a plea deal in Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial remains the dominant factor behind the 95 percent trader consensus against a pardon by June 30. The president’s office has signaled that formal opinions from the Justice Ministry pardons department must be fully reviewed and that negotiations between the prime minister’s legal team and prosecutors take precedence, with no subsequent announcements indicating a shift. Netanyahu’s November 2025 request and external calls for clemency have not altered this procedural sequence. With fewer than thirty days remaining before the resolution deadline and the trial’s cross-examination phase still active, the timeline offers limited scope for completing the required steps.