India, Nov. 30 -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the country's president to grant him pardon in the long-running corruption trial against him.

Netanyahu submitted a formal request for a pardon to the legal department of the Office of the President, the Prime Minister's Office said. He also released a video statement saying the pardon had divided the country, and claimed it would restore national unity.

In the statement, Netanyahu said that his "personal interest" was in completing the legal process to the end, Reuters reported. The Israeli PM, however, alleged that the "military and national reality, and national interests demand otherwise." He added that the trial ending immediately would lead to "much needed natio...