Israeli President Herzog Grants Clemency to Former Manufacturers Association Head Shraga Brosh

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has granted clemency to businessman Shraga Brosh, the former chairman of the Manufacturers Association, who was convicted of tax offenses. Brosh was sentenced to 14 months in prison in 2024 for falsifying documents to register his company as a family business, enabling him to evade approximately 1.5 million shekels in taxes. He was also fined 100,000 shekels and given an additional 12 months suspended sentence. After serving a month and a half of his sentence, Herzog's office confirmed on Thursday that the remainder of Brosh's prison term would be converted to five months of community service.

The presidential pardon cited "serious personal circumstances," which were not disclosed due to privacy, Brosh's age (73), and his longstanding public contributions to the state and economy, especially during wartime. Brosh was initially indicted in July 2020 and convicted in July 2023 for forgery and fraud. His prison sentence was later reduced to 12 months on appeal at the Tel Aviv District Court.

This clemency decision comes amid ongoing scrutiny of tax fraud allegations involving other figures, including the current president of the Manufacturers Association. Meanwhile, President Herzog has paused consideration of a clemency request from former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.