A day after receiving a bombshell request for a pardon from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog said Monday that he will consider “only the good of the country” in his decision.

In a video statement on Monday, Herzog said that the request to pardon the prime minister from charges leveled in his ongoing corruption trial “will be handled in the most proper and precise way. I will consider only the good of the country and Israeli society.”

He said Netanyahu’s request “unsettles many people in this country, across different communities, and [it] sparks debate.” But the president stressed that “one thing is clear to me — violent discourse does not influence me.

“On the contrary, respectful discourse certainly stimulates discussion and dialogue,” said Herzog, inviting members of the public to visit the President’s Residence’s official website “to express their opinion and respond accordingly.”

While the president is expected to take several weeks before reaching a decision, sources close to the president told The Times of Israel on Monday that he is planning a trip to New York City next week.

His meetings are expected to be primarily with the Jewish community there, according to the sources.

They would not say whether he will meet US President Donald Trump, though the Ynet news site reported Monday that no such meeting was planned.

During a speech to the Knesset in October, Trump appealed directly to Herzog to grant a pardon to Netanyahu.

“I have an idea, why don’t you give Netanyahu a pardon?” Trump said during the speech, adding, “Who cares about cigars and champagne?” a reference to some of the infamous items Netanyahu is alleged to have received as bribes.

Trump — who has faced numerous legal battles of his own — has repeatedly called for the charges against Netanyahu to be dismissed, and he followed up his Knesset speech with a letter to Herzog last month.

“I hereby call on you to fully pardon Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a formidable and decisive War Time Prime Minister,” he wrote. “I absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli Justice System,” Trump stressed, but decried that the case against Netanyahu was a “political, unjustified prosecution.”

Herzog repeatedly maintained that he could only weigh such a request if it was officially submitted to his office. On Sunday, Netanyahu’s attorneys submitted a 111-page request to the president, saying that a pardon would “allow the prime minister to devote all of his time, abilities and energy to advancing Israel in these critical times.”

Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman suggested Sunday night on i24 news that if Herzog does not grant Netanyahu a pardon, Trump would take further action.

“I have to tell you, President Trump came and said what he said in a very clear manner, and made his position clear and also sent a letter,” said Silman. “And I think that now, President Herzog needs to rise to the occasion and to make a decision for the good of the security of the country.”

Silman added that “if President Herzog won’t [decide] in the best interest of the safety of the State of Israel, of the good of the people, for reconciliation and unity, then I think President Trump may take further steps and will be forced to intervene.”

Such “further steps,” the minister added, could include “sanctions of officials in the judicial system.”

Netanyahu is charged with one count of bribery and three counts each of fraud and breach of trust, in three separate cases. The charges relate to allegations of improper manipulation of the press and receiving illicit gifts in return for government favors. He denies any wrongdoing and has argued that the charges were fabricated in an attempted political coup by the police and state prosecution.

His trial began in May 2020 after years of investigations and following his November 2019 indictment. He has faced calls throughout by opposition figures for him to resign over the charges. Analysts have estimated that, should it continue, the trial will take several more years.

In his pardon request, Netanyahu did not admit any guilt and, in a video statement issued shortly afterward, continued to contest the charges against him and the legitimacy of the process by which he was indicted. He also did not indicate any readiness to step down as prime minister.

Yair Golan, the head of The Democrats political party, slammed Netanyahu on Monday for the request, asserting that he was not asking for a pardon but rather for an illegal “request to cancel his trial.”

Addressing Herzog in his remarks during a Knesset faction meeting, Golan said that “your father, president Chaim Herzog, would kick Netanyahu out the door. There can be no pardon without an admission of guilt and [Netanyahu] leaving political life.”

The Israel Democracy Institute think tank noted, in a recent analysis article, that “no law requires an admission of guilt as a condition for a pardon,” but also that the attorney general’s office has long directed that handling pardon requests before conviction should occur “only in rare cases.”

Speaking to his own faction meeting on Monday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir suggested that granting Netanyahu a pardon would “bring healing and reconciliation” to a divided nation.