People on the streets of Jerusalem reacted on Sunday to news that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had asked the president for a pardon during his ongoing corruption trial.

Some said he should have done so sooner, others that he deserved a pardon so that the country can move forward.

But others, including opposition leaders, oppose the pardon without an admission of guilt and a withdrawal from political life.

"There is no assumption of responsibility whatsoever, and this might project a problematic message to all public figures and to what our public norms might look like,” Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, told The Associated Press.

Netanyahu's office has confirmed the request was submitted to the president's legal department.

The president's office called it an “extraordinary request” with “significant implications.”

Netanyahu faces charges of fraud, breach of trust, and accepting bribes but has not been convicted.

He denies the allegations, calling the trial a witch hunt.

The request follows U.S. President Donald Trump's urging for a pardon.

Legal experts say the request cannot stop the trial.

Opposition leaders oppose the pardon without an admission of guilt and a withdrawal from political life.

AP video shot by: Shlomo Mor