Pardon me! — Is that Jewish?

What is a proper Jewish understanding of a prime minister’s request for a pardon for acts of corruption against the state? One would think that you could turn to Jewish law experts for an answer, or to a populist response coming from the gut of our reigning public servants. Unfortunately, all these groups are tainted. The loss of a pardon for Prime Minister Netanyahu and the possibility of a guilty verdict would plunge them into disasters of their own making.

The Haredi halachic leadership needs Prime Minister Netanyahu to ensure the passage of a draft law that gives their students a pass on serving in the army and continues the vast flow of monetary support to their institutions and impoverished followers. If forced into a new government that replaces him and would not be sympathetic to their outrageous demands for exemption from public responsibility, the disaster of the cracking of their isolated existence would unfold. If students enter the army and the workforce, it is a new ballgame for their leaders’ ironclad grip on ultra-Orthodox society. Their lack of participation in civil society and in the economy — even to the extent of lacking basic skills for employment — will be exposed as a disastrous choice by their leadership.

We also cannot turn to the Religious Zionists for an honest opinion on the pardon issue. They are under the sway of radical right-wing messianists who harness all energies to fulfill a nightmare of control over another people. Religious Zionists have either actively or passively weaponized the concept of the Chosen People, shifting it from a moral light to the world into an entitled, racist, violent doctrine of supremacy. They face a disaster of their own making: without Prime Minister Netanyahu, the dreaded possibility that peace might actually have a chance.

Turning to our Likud “statesmen” to answer our dilemma regarding the pardon — they are a no-go. While they trumpet their identity with Amcha — the regular Israeli citizens who have turned disdainful of Prime Minister Netanyahu — the politicos are nonetheless desperate to keep their jobs. They know that the Haredi exemptions from army service and from gainful employment are vile, and that their constituency, who serve in the army as regular soldiers and reservists, are close to breaking down. They know well that Prime Minister Netanyahu is more than a problem, but they are tied to that disaster. They crave power and the continuation of their salaries.

Given these dead ends, we have no resort but to give our traditions and our Jewish sensibilities a turn. Jews know a lot about seeking a pardon. We all attempt that on Yom Kippur. We confess to self-centered wrongful acts of thought, speech, and action. We don’t make excuses or change the conversation. We deeply regret what we have done and what we should have done, and we vow to do better. Prime Minister Netanyahu admits to nothing, expresses no remorse, and seems quite satisfied with who he is.

This is not pardon material.

For President Herzog to grant what would amount to a farce of a pardon is to confirm and endanger our nation with a moral disaster. Educators, social workers, and rabbis in the trenches will tell you that they often feel powerless in the face of an ever-increasing sense of shichitut, in both senses of corruption and demoralization, that seems to engulf our society. A pardon would destroy all ideals of fairness and equity. Faced with a mountain of deceit and corruption, we must follow the Talmudic-era Rabbi Shimon: “Let justice cleave the mountain!”