It took an obscure Israeli legal office to put Donald Trump back in his place for us to measure just how much the former American president still confuses diplomacy with real estate wheeling and dealing. Yesterday, according to the New York Times, this institution clearly signaled that Benjamin Netanyahu could only be pardoned if he "resigns, confesses, or is convicted" — a masterful slap in the face to Trumpian pressure.
This rebuff deserves our attention, as it reveals far more than a simple legal disagreement between allies. It exposes the head-on collision between two conceptions of justice: the transactional one, where everything is negotiated in the corridors of power, and the institutional one, where rules preexist the men who apply them.
The Art of the Deal vs. Rule of Law
Trump, faithful to his method, clearly believed it would suffice to press the right buttons to get satisfaction. Read more: trump turns justice After all, didn't he pardon left and right during his mandate, transforming presidential pardons into political currency? Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone... the list of his obligees testifies to a purely utilitarian vision of justice.
But here's the thing: Israel is not the United States, and Netanyahu is not a New York businessman in a suit and tie. The Israeli judicial system, despite its flaws and controversial reform attempts in recent years, maintains an independence that Trump seems to discover with stupor.
This Israeli institutional resistance is all the more remarkable as it occurs in a context where Netanyahu himself has multiplied attacks against his own judicial system. Let's remember that the Prime Minister faces accusations of corruption, fraud, and breach of trust — charges far more serious than the accounting shenanigans that earned Trump his own legal troubles.
The Paradox of the Recalcitrant Ally
The irony of the situation is not without flavor. Read more: trump discovers even Trump, who always presented himself as Israel's best friend — moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing the Golan, Abraham Accords — discovers that geopolitical friendship doesn't automatically translate into judicial submission.
This lesson in judicial independence coming from Israel has something delicious about it when you know Trump's propensity to instrumentalize American justice. How many times hasn't he tried to pressure the FBI, the Department of Justice, or even the Supreme Court? How many times hasn't he demanded "investigations" into his political adversaries?
The Israeli legal office, by setting its conditions — resignation, confession, or conviction — reminds us of an obvious truth that Trump seems to have forgotten: a pardon is not a blank check, but a solemn act that presupposes recognition of fault. You don't pardon an innocent person; you pardon a repentant guilty one.
Infantilizing Citizens by Proxy
This affair also reveals one of the most pernicious drifts of our era: the tendency of leaders to short-circuit institutions in the name of efficiency or personal friendship. Trump, by attempting to obtain a pardon for Netanyahu, doesn't just trample on Israeli judicial sovereignty. He sends a deleterious message: rules are negotiable, justice is an adjustment variable, and citizens don't need to burden themselves with tedious procedures.
We know this logic well in France. How many times haven't we seen political officials try to influence justice, directly or indirectly? How many times haven't we heard about "phone calls" to arrange this or that affair?
The resistance of the Israeli judicial system to Trumpian pressure should inspire us. It shows that it's possible to say no to the powerful, even when they drape themselves in the trappings of international friendship.
The Illusion of Omnipotence
Ultimately, this Israeli rebuff reveals the limits of the Trump method. The man who boasted of being able to "make deals" with everyone discovers that certain institutions resist his transactional charms. Justice, when it functions correctly, is not a market where everything can be bought and sold.
This lesson applies to all those who, from Washington to Paris via London, still believe that political power can do everything. No, it cannot do everything. And that's for the best.
Democracy doesn't boil down to electoral alternation. It also — and especially — presupposes the existence of institutions capable of resisting pressure, even friendly pressure. The Israeli legal office just reminded Trump of this. Let's hope he remembers it.