(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is formally seeking a preemptive pardon of the criminal charges he has long faced, saying in a video address ending his prosecution was needed to bring unity to a divided nation.

“I am certain, as are many others in the nation, that an immediate end to the trial would greatly help lower the flames and promote broad reconciliation — something our country desperately needs,” Netanyahu said in the speech on Sunday as his attorneys filed a petition with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who is responsible for granting pardons.

Netanyahu’s speech comes weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump wrote to Herzog advocating a pardon, which Herzog said he could not consider because Israeli law requires the accused or his family to make the request.

Netanyahu has three legal cases open against him, on charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust. They relate to allegations that he accepted lavish gifts in exchange for political favors and that he used his position to secure positive media coverage. The trial in the cases began in 2020 and has proceeded in fits and starts, with hearings routinely canceled as Netanyahu attends to Israel’s affairs, including the multi-front war and a protest movement that Netanyahu and his allies allege has been stoked through foreign interference.

In his speech, Netanyahu did not acknowledge guilt and said, as he long has contended, that the charges against him were political in nature. He alleged that crimes had been committed in the case against him. He also cited Trump’s advocacy on his behalf.

“President Trump called for an immediate end to the trial so that, together with him, I could advance even more vigorously the vital interests shared by Israel and the United States, within a time window that may never return,” Netanyahu said.

Herzog’s office said it would consider the pardon request in accordance with Israeli law. Netanyahu’s critics lambasted the request, saying it amounted to another assault on country’s legal norms by the prime minister, whose right-wing government has led an effort to overhaul the judiciary.

“I call on President Herzog: You cannot grant Netanyahu a pardon without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse, and an immediate withdrawal from political life,” tweeted opposition leader Yair Lapid while making a video address of his own.

Netanyahu’s request comes as the country nears elections that must take place within the next year. Netanyahu was reelected most recently in 2022, after the charges against him were in place.

A previous prime minister who faced legal charges, Ehud Olmert, resigned before being charged and requested a pardon only after being convicted and jailed.

The post Netanyahu says he is formally seeking the pardon Trump requested on his behalf appeared first on The Forward.

(JTA) — A proposal to rename a Dublin park that honors one of Ireland’s most famous Jewish emigres has been tabled following criticism from the Israeli president and the Irish prime minister.

But the bid to rename Herzog Park could be revived if the Dublin City Council’s naming committee follows a different procedure, the council’s chief executive said in a statement on Sunday, a day before the planned vote.

The park was renamed in 1995 for Chaim Herzog, the son of the first Irish chief rabbi who became Israel’s sixth president in 1983, seven years after famously ripping up a United Nations resolution that declared “Zionism as Racism.” His son, Isaac Herzog, is the president of Israel today.

Pro-Palestinian activists called for the park to be stripped of the Herzog name during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, citing Chaim Herzog’s role as a prominent defender of Zionism. Last year, activists covered all references to the Herzog family at the park with Palestinian flags and added placards with the name “Hind Rajab Park,” referring to the 6-year-old Gaza girl killed during the war who has become a symbol of pro-Palestinian advocacy.

The campaign came amid staunch pro-Palestinian sentiment in Ireland, where Israel recently shuttered its Dublin embassy, citing “antisemitic rhetoric of the Irish government,” including its recognition of an independent Palestinian state and its support for anti-Israel resolutions in international bodies during the war in Gaza.

Isaac Herzog’s office had expressed concern about the renaming proposal, saying that it believed the park’s new name would be “Free Palestine.” It said in a statement on Saturday that stripping the Herzog name from the park would harm “the unique expression of the historical connection between the Irish and Jewish peoples” and undermine the legacy of Chaim Herzog, whose father supported Irish independence and who himself fought in the British Army during World War II.

“Removing the Herzog name, if it happens, would be a shameful and disgraceful move,” the statement said. “We hope that the legacy of a figure at the forefront of establishing the relations between Israel and Ireland, and the fight against antisemitism and tyranny, will still get the respect it deserves today.”

On Sunday, Ireland’s prime minister, Micheál Martin, stepped in, condemning the renaming proposal and calling for its withdrawal.

“The proposal would erase the distinctive and rich contribution to Irish life of the Jewish community over many decades, including actual participation in the Irish War of Independence and the emerging state,” he said in a statement. “This proposal is a denial of our history and will without a doubt be seen as antisemitic. It is overtly divisive and wrong.”

Later in the day, reports emerged that the council was indeed withdrawing the proposal, which had by then drawn condemnation from Jewish groups around the world as well. In a statement, the council’s chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, confirmed that the proposal would not come up for a vote at Monday’s meeting.

Shakespeare said the council’s commemorations and naming committee had not followed the “statutory procedures” required for a “secret ballot” to approve a renaming and that he would be sending the proposal back to the committee for reconsideration. He offered an apology without addressing the content of the criticism surrounding the proposal.

“On behalf of the Executive of the City Council, I wish to apologise for this administrative oversight,” Shakespeare said. “A detailed review of the administrative mis-steps will now be undertaken and a report furnished to the Lord Mayor and Councillors.”

Herzog Park is located in a neighborhood of Dublin that is home to other symbols of the city’s bygone Jewish past. It sits near the intersection of Zion Road and Orwell Road and is located a short walk from the city’s progressive synagogue, Orthodox synagogue and a new Chabad center, which recently opened Ireland’s first kosher restaurant in decades to acclaim from both Jewish and non-Jewish diners.

The City Council is also involved in a proposal to build apartments on the site of the Orthodox synagogue, which the Jewish community put up for sale several years ago amid what local Jewish leaders said was a shift toward secularism among the city’s Jews.

“Herzog Park is more than a name on a sign. For the neighbouring Jewish families and schools, it is a place filled with memory, and a quiet reminder that our community has deep roots in Dublin,” Yoni Wieder, who was inaugurated as Ireland’s chief rabbi last year, said in a statement.

“When the park was named in honour of Chaim Herzog in 1995, it was a recognition not just of one man, but a chapter of shared Irish-Jewish history. That history has not changed, and it cannot be undone by motions or votes,” Wieder said. “The Jewish story in Ireland deserves to be acknowledged, not quietly removed.”

The post After facing criticism, Dublin tables proposal to rename Herzog Park — for now appeared first on The Forward.

It was a Thursday morning around 11:00 am. I had parked my car in the garage on 81^st Street and started my short walk to Zabar’s. When I turned the corner on 81^st street to Broadway, I saw dozens of Zabar’s employees standing on the sidewalk and the road, clapping. Soon, more employees emerged from the store to join those already out there.

Almost everyone had their cameras out, taking pictures of the scene outside the store. Everyone seemed to be waiting, all eyes looking north as though they were expecting a famous movie star to be driving south on Broadway. Horns from cars with disgruntled drivers blasted the area. Traffic was almost at a standstill, and red lights occasionally brought the cars to a complete halt. Finally, what we were all waiting for appeared: A hearse with close family and friends of Saul Zabar slowly passed the store amidst thunderous applause. Saul had passed away two days earlier and today was the funeral and burial which would take place at a cemetery on Long Island.

Slowly, the hearse passed and faded into distant Broadway, cameras were returned to their pockets and the employees returned to work.

I proceeded to the fish counter where I have been working for the last 35 years. I retrieved my knives from the secret hiding place where I store them when they’re not in use and readied them for the day’s work. One by one, my associates slowly appeared until all stations were tended. The fish counter was fully staffed and ready. Slowly, the store became filled with customers as if it were any other day. But it was not like every other day to me. When I looked out at the shoppers and the counters opposite mine, everything was the same yet different. The store’s usual brightness seemed to have faded somewhat. My mind started to wander:

What will happen at 2:00 pm next Thursday, and the Thursdays thereafter when the “Over 95″ Club convenes for its regular Thursday meeting? Will it convene? Now there is only one remaining member and he will be 96 on Jan. 1, 2026.

Only time knows the answer.

About ten months ago, just after I reached the age of 95, Saul appeared behind the fish counter at about 2 on a Thursday. He had been showing up here at the fish counter for about as far back as I could remember. We would greet each other and discuss what had occurred during the prior week. He would tell me about the doctors he had seen, the physical ailments that had been affecting him. He would often ask if I had experienced the same malady or situation.

We talked about films we had seen on television during the past week, which were the good ones, which were the bad. Sometimes we would talk about the fish. I thought the sable was exceptionally good this week, tender, sweet not salty, I might say. He would then slice off a piece and make his comment.

Then, suddenly he would turn and leave the fish counter. No “goodbyes,” no “see you next week.” He was gone. The meeting was officially over. On one particular Thursday, a while back, I told him that I had inaugurated “The Over 95 Club” and that he and I were its only members. I got a half smile from him on that one.

And so the “Over 95 Club” continued with its Thursday meetings until one Thursday, about six months ago, when he didn’t show up. I let it pass. I asked some of my co-workers if they had seen him in the store during the prior few days and they said he had been in the store every day as usual; however, he spent less time than was his custom.

As the days and weeks passed, he would come to the store even less frequently and on an irregular basis, until one day he stopped coming. I didn’t get details other than that he was sick.

The “Over 95 Club” met no more.

Every Thursday that followed I wondered if he would show up until one day, about six weeks ago, I got a call from the store’s general manager — Saul had had a stroke, was in the hospital and was not expected to make it. I sat down, stunned by those words: “Not expected to make it” I couldn’t let it go. I went to bed that night still hearing those words: “Not expected to make it.”

The following morning, at the breakfast table, I started to reminisce about Saul.

When I had started work at Zabar’s, he’d been a hands-on boss. No joking around when he appeared every day in each of our many departments, commenting on what he observed and making suggestions that he felt would increase efficiency. Even though he was firm and direct as “the Boss,” he was still “Saul” to everyone. No one called him Mr. Zabar.

He would visit the Acme and Banner locations in Brooklyn where all the fish was smoked; he was always given first choice of all the smoked fish. The smoked salmon he selected became the famous, one and only “Zabar’s Nova,” the choice of the lot. That hands-on style of his accounted for Zabar’s having the best smoked fish in all of New York and points north, east, south and west of the city.

Saul knew he would not be around forever, but maybe, just maybe Zabar’s would. So, he carefully selected those employees from the younger set who he thought were capable and had the foresight to realize the future that Zabar’s could have in store for them. He taught the staff all they needed to know, so that when the time came they would have the knowledge to follow in his footsteps.

He was a dynamo, and because of all that he did and was, I imagined him still there, still sitting with me on a break, still sharing details of his doctor’s appointments and the movies we both loved. I still saw him at the fish counter. I still saw him behind it or just walking through the store, his store. He wasn’t gone for me — and I wondered if people would still see me when I was gone.

The post Now that Saul Zabar is gone, what will become of the ‘Over 95’ club at NYC’s leading appetizing store? appeared first on The Forward.