The Office of the President of the State Isaac Herzog publishes this afternoon (Thursday) the data on the pardons President Herzog has granted since taking office four months ago.
Since the beginning of his term, President Herzog has received 431 pardon requests and approved 104 of them. 76 requests for the erasure of a criminal record were approved, along with 24 pardons from fines and four requests to shorten prison sentences.
The previous president, Reuven Rivlin, received about 7,000 pardon requests during his term and approved 1,872 of them, the majority of which involved the erasure of a criminal record.
Herzog, who has called pardons a 'proper tool for calming national tensions', has decided not to approve pardon requests from sex offenders, domestic violence offenders, doctors and lawyers whose licenses have been revoked, traffic offenders and requests for the commutation of life sentences, and all such requests that have been brought to him in the last four months have been rejected.
The president has paid special attention to those who find themselves in a difficult economic situation due to the coronavirus crisis, erased criminal records for soldiers or national service members for offenses committed before their enlistment, erased criminal records to help certain people get jobs so they can rise out of poverty, and promoting a special pardon for the erasure of criminal records of Ethiopian Israelis.
He sees pardon as a special authority of kindness, which does not come to replace the justice system, but to do justice where the system cannot operate. While the court can only adjudicate on a case-by-case basis, the president has the ability to look at the whole, especially in light of the lengthy and rigorous process that each request goes through at Herzog's desk - and each month he receives at least two crates full of pardon requests.
After the president approves a pardon request, it requires the final signature of the Justice Minister - when it is a civilian issue, or of the Defense Minister - when the issue is military in nature. In cases where there are disagreements between the president and the minister - a decision of the Supreme Court is sometimes required.
There are currently about 1,000 pardon requests awaiting Herzog's decision which he intends to deal with in the near future.
The president's authority to grant pardons has been reduced somewhat in recent years. President Herzog wishes to maintain a higher level of authority on the matter out of a desire to help those who find themselves unable to rejoin society as a productive member due to a past criminal record.