Margalit Har-Shefi\'s parents have submitted an official request for a pardon of their daughter to President Moshe Katzav. She is scheduled to begin a nine-month prison sentence this coming Wednesday. Har-Shefi was convicted of knowing in advance of Yigal Amir\'s plans to murder Yitzchak Rabin, and of not stopping him. She has consistently denied knowing of Amir\'s intentions. Katzav said ambiguously yesterday, \"A person who actually knew of plans to kill someone and stood idly by deserves not nine months, but 90 years.\" He said that he will deal with the pardon request \"according to law.\" Justice Minister Meir Shetreet (fax number: (+972-2) 628-5438) must first approve the request. Articles in Hebrew and English on the Har-Shefi case can be seen at .
Prof. Shalom Rosenberg, not usually known for expressing right-wing views, was one of the signatories to the petition published in Ha\'aretz yesterday entitled, \"We believe Margalit.\" Other professors who signed included Herman Branover, Alex Lubotsky, Carmy Horowitz, Zechariah Dor-Shav, Ruth Pel\'i, and Daniel Shalit. Rosenberg explained to Arutz-7 today why he signed:
\"I see this as a humanitarian issue. It could be that the trial was technically correct, but at the same time it could be that justice was not served. There is a question of time context; words that were said then don\'t have the same meaning now. For instance, the high school student from the U.S. who shot and killed some students last week - people heard him, but no one thought that he was serious until afterwards. Or, if we hear a girl saying, \'I could die for him,\' and then she kills herself, should those who heard her say it be held responsible? In addition, there are other skeletons in the public closet, such as Avishai Raviv... I don’t want to say that she\'s a scapegoat, but I think that it is time for this humanitarian gesture, and people on the left should also join in asking for it. I think it\'s time for our society to cure the wounds of the assassination, and not to keep on looking where to pin the guilt - especially when the circumstances are as unclear as they are...\"
Prof. Shalom Rosenberg, not usually known for expressing right-wing views, was one of the signatories to the petition published in Ha\'aretz yesterday entitled, \"We believe Margalit.\" Other professors who signed included Herman Branover, Alex Lubotsky, Carmy Horowitz, Zechariah Dor-Shav, Ruth Pel\'i, and Daniel Shalit. Rosenberg explained to Arutz-7 today why he signed:
\"I see this as a humanitarian issue. It could be that the trial was technically correct, but at the same time it could be that justice was not served. There is a question of time context; words that were said then don\'t have the same meaning now. For instance, the high school student from the U.S. who shot and killed some students last week - people heard him, but no one thought that he was serious until afterwards. Or, if we hear a girl saying, \'I could die for him,\' and then she kills herself, should those who heard her say it be held responsible? In addition, there are other skeletons in the public closet, such as Avishai Raviv... I don’t want to say that she\'s a scapegoat, but I think that it is time for this humanitarian gesture, and people on the left should also join in asking for it. I think it\'s time for our society to cure the wounds of the assassination, and not to keep on looking where to pin the guilt - especially when the circumstances are as unclear as they are...\"