Podcast Summary: "Sorry, not sorry: Netanyahu demands a pardon"

Podcast: The Listening Post – Al Jazeera
Air date: December 6, 2025
Host: Al Jazeera team

Main Theme

This episode explores Israel's political and media landscape through the lens of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's unprecedented request for a preemptive presidential pardon over longstanding corruption charges. The discussion delves into how Netanyahu’s maneuvering interacts with Israel’s societal divisions, media ecosystem, and ongoing war crimes allegations, while also drawing sharp comparisons to global political trends. The latter half of the episode shifts focus to South Korea's media polarization and the rise of YouTube-based political influencers amid turbulent politics. Finally, the show touches on Israeli surveillance technology in Gaza.

Key Discussion Points

1. Netanyahu's Bid for a Presidential Pardon

Timestamps: [00:28]–[11:52]

• Netanyahu's Request:

  • Netanyahu has asked Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog for a preemptive pardon related to corruption charges dating back to 2019, despite previous claims he would clear his name in court.
  • The move comes after former U.S. President Donald Trump publicly encouraged Herzog to grant the pardon, blending international and domestic pressures.
  • A pardon without admission of guilt would mark an unprecedented event in Israeli politics.

• Strategic Motives

  • Netanyahu positions the pardon as being in "the public interest," claiming charges have divided Israeli society. But critics call this an act of hypocrisy given that Netanyahu himself fueled rifts by agitating against the judiciary and media.
  • “[Netanyahu] began agitating against the entire legal system, the police and the courts... Now he's saying, well, the rift will go away if you let me off the hook.” – Media Critic [05:00]

• Impact on the Justice System

  • This move follows earlier attempts by Netanyahu’s government to weaken the Supreme Court in 2023 — a move that sparked massive protests.
  • A pardon would "tidy up his political resume" domestically, but would not shield him from war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which are rarely discussed in Israel’s media ([01:14], [01:54]).

• Framing and Media Complicity

  • Netanyahu blames the media for the corruption charges, leveraging outlets like Channel 14, described as "a mouthpiece of Netanyahu," aligning itself with his narrative ([06:07]).
  • “This is a media that has been enlisting itself willfully to the Israeli genocidal attack on Gaza... the internal debate to which Netanyahu is playing.” – Israeli Media Analyst [06:28]
  • The Israeli media faces the classic dilemma of confronting lies directly and being labeled as political actors, or staying silent and appearing complicit ([06:51]).
  • Netanyahu is seen “playing to the facade of democracy” and bending the narrative to his advantage as elections approach ([06:28]–[07:28]).

• Corruption & Media Links

  • Part of the corruption evidence involves Netanyahu allegedly offering favorable legislation to a newspaper editor in exchange for positive coverage ([07:28]).
  • The timing of the pardon and renewed attempts at judicial reform suggest calculated electioneering ([07:28]–[08:56]).

• President Herzog's Dilemma

  • Granting a pardon without consensus would deepen national divisions, while refusing could make Netanyahu a martyr for his supporters ([09:27]):
    “If [Herzog] does the pardon, without forming a certain national consensus... Netanyahu's critics are saying, you've torn [the country] apart. So now you are talking to us about uniting. We know it's about you.” – Political Analyst [09:27]

• Media's Broader Role in Gaza Crisis

  • The episode strongly critiques the Israeli media’s role in enabling both government overreach and the war in Gaza.
  • “Israeli political analysts have long theorized that one of the reasons Benjamin Netanyahu prolonged the assault on the strip was to keep himself in power to better shield himself from the legal charges.” – Political Commentator [09:58]
  • “The really tragic element... is that in our name, genocide has been conducted for the mere cause of displacing attention from a trial of a politician. And there was so little opposition to it.” – Israeli Media Analyst [10:36]

2. International Perceptions & Social Media Narratives

Timestamps: [11:52]–[13:52]

• Changing U.S. Attitudes

  • At a recent Israel Hayom conference in New York, Hillary Clinton attributed declining American youth support for Israel to “TikTok propaganda” rather than to events in Gaza ([12:14]).
  • “They did not know history, they had very little context, and what they were being told on social media was not just one sided, it was pure propaganda.” – Hillary Clinton [12:55]
  • The episode pushes back, highlighting how social media simply shows realities often absent from mainstream news — both Palestinian and Israeli content shape young people's views ([13:05]).

• Weaponizing Social Media

  • Netanyahu himself considers social media “the most important weapon in the battle for public opinion and support for Israel” ([13:05]).
  • U.S. business interests (e.g., Larry Ellison's potential TikTok acquisition) intertwine with these narrative battles ([13:35]).

• Critique of U.S. Elite Narratives

  • The show questions whether TikTok is genuinely a threat to Israel’s image or just a mirror unwanted by Washington ([13:52]).

3. South Korea: Media Polarization and the Rise of Influencers

Timestamps: [13:52]–[24:17]

• Martial Law & Progressive Media

  • On December 3, 2024, South Korea experienced “pure chaos” as martial law was declared ([15:40]).
  • Prominent political podcaster Kim Ho Joon was singled out as a threat by the military regime, the only media figure on the arrest list ([16:03]).
  • “Kim Hojun was singled out... because of his political influence and because he had a lot of progressive followers.” – South Korea Political Commentator [16:03]

• Kim Ho Joon: Media Maverick

  • Kim’s career has spanned radio (notably “News Factory”), now supplanted by his influential, irreverent YouTube channel “Gyeomson Himdarda” meaning “humility is hard” ([18:36]).
  • He frames himself as a check on South Korea’s “monopolized” conservative media landscape, claiming:
    “For a very long time, our media environment has been monopolized by the conservatives, and now they talk about polarization. What polarization?... When people say there is a polarization, that actually means balance has been restored." – Kim Ho Joon [19:04]

• Controversy & Ethics

  • Kim admits to spreading unverified claims, defending the practice as necessary watchdogging but sometimes delving into conspiracy ([20:23]).
    “Until it is proven, every hypothesis is a conspiracy. But when you are dealing with power, you can't wait until everything is proven before you raise issues.” – Kim Ho Joon [20:23]

• Media Transformation in South Korea

  • Kim’s approach has inspired a cohort of both left- and right-leaning influencers—raising questions about press standards, facts vs. opinion, and “democratic regression from below” ([23:09], [23:26]).
  • “People like Kim Ho Joon have fundamentally reshaped the media environment in South Korea. But have they resolved the conundrum of political polarization and the lack of factual information? Not really.” – South Korea Political Expert [23:26]
  • Kim challenges traditional views of objectivity, especially regarding coverage of Gaza:
    “The cost of being non partisan, of being neutral, is the normalization of Palestinian people being killed, isn't it? ... Neutrality is not the same as fairness.” – Kim Ho Joon [22:04]-[22:40]

4. The Future of Surveillance: Testing Grounds in Gaza

Timestamps: [24:17]–end

• Omnipresent Surveillance
  • The episode closes by referencing an investigative long-read on Israeli surveillance in Gaza—exploring the human cost of living under constant monitoring, with implications that such technologies could spread far beyond Palestine ([24:17]).

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Netanyahu's Hypocrisy:
  "Netanyahu's attempt to frame his pardon request as in a public interest is one of the most staggering cases of hypocrisy I've seen in modern politics." – Media Critic [04:51]

• On the Dilemma Facing the Media:
  “For the media to call out the lies then starts to appear like they're a political player. But if they don't call out the lies, they are enabling the liar to proceed.” – Media Critic [06:51]

• On Manufactured Consent:
  “Having manufactured consent for a genocide through social and media outlets, is he really not capable of manufacturing consent now for a pardon?” – Political Strategist [11:08]

• On Journalism and Neutrality:
  “The cost of being non partisan, of being neutral is the normalization of Palestinian people being killed, isn't it? ... Neutrality is not the same as fairness.” – Kim Ho Joon [22:04]-[22:40]

Key Timestamps

• [00:28]: Netanyahu’s pardon request context
• [04:03]: Trump’s involvement and the political theater
• [06:07]: Channel 14 as Netanyahu’s media base
• [07:28]: Media’s role in the corruption case
• [09:27]: The President’s dilemma
• [10:36]: Media’s complicity in Gaza
• [12:14]: Clinton blames TikTok for U.S. opinion shift
• [13:05]: Netanyahu calls social media a crucial weapon
• [15:40]: Kim Ho Joon targeted during South Korean martial law
• [18:36]: Kim’s move to YouTube
• [22:04]: Kim’s challenge to media ethics

Conclusion

This Listening Post episode deftly unpacks the entwined roles of political maneuvering and media complicity in both Israel and South Korea. Netanyahu’s pardon gambit is presented not just as a legal maneuver but as a master class in narrative management and institutional coercion with deep roots in media control and manipulation—echoing a global trend among right-wing populists. The contrasting story of South Korea illustrates both the promise and the peril of new media in highly polarized environments. Throughout, the show scrutinizes how power, self-preservation, and media narratives are tightly bound, with profound consequences for democracy, justice, and the very fabric of truth in public life.