Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper revealed developments regarding the pardon request submitted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to President Isaac Herzog, in relation to the corruption cases against him.
The newspaper reported that a statement issued by the Presidential Office indicated that the Office’s legal advisor requested more information and details from the Pardon Department in the Ministry of Justice regarding the submitted request.
The statement explained that the legal advisor to the Presidential Office, Attorney Michal Zok, requested that she be provided with all case law related to exercising the power of pardon before the end of criminal proceedings, and this includes cases related to political initiatives or prisoner release deals.
The statement indicated that “despite the fundamental differences between the cases, the required completions relate to the essence of exercising the power of pardon during judicial proceedings.”
Clarifications were also requested regarding discrepancies between the legal opinions presented, in addition to referring comments received from the public to the Pardons Department for analysis.
The statement stressed that this step comes in the context of completing the professional examination before formulating a recommendation to President Herzog, and does not express any prior position on the request, stressing that dealing with the request will continue according to the approved procedures after receiving the necessary responses.
In November of last year, Netanyahu submitted a request to President Herzog to grant him a pardon that would end the legal proceedings against him without admitting guilt. Reports also indicated that US President Donald Trump repeatedly tried to pressure Herzog to grant this pardon.
Last month, it was published that the legal opinion of the Justice Ministry’s Pardons Division found that Netanyahu’s request did not meet the basic conditions. The Ministry confirmed at the time that if new information was provided before the President’s decision, the legal opinion would be updated and completed, taking into account the position of the prosecution authorities.
Netanyahu is facing trial in an ongoing criminal case related to several corruption files, most notably the cases known in Israel as 1000, 2000, and 4000, which include accusations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
