Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is expected to announce that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a pardon is unlawful, according to a report on Channel 13 News on Wednesday evening.
The emerging legal opinion will argue that granting a pardon while legal proceedings are still ongoing does not comply with statutory requirements or existing case law.
According to the report, there has been a delay in transferring the opinion to the Pardons Department at the Ministry of Justice.
The State Attorney’s Office is expected to present its official position on Netanyahu’s pardon request soon, explaining that the current request cannot be accepted from a legal standpoint.
Netanyahu submitted his pardon request to President Isaac Herzog in November through his attorney, Amit Haddad. The request, which was delivered to the President’s Residence, noted that the Prime Minister neither expresses remorse nor apologizes, and does not accept responsibility for the actions attributed to him in the indictment.
The request was forwarded to the Pardons Department at the Ministry of Justice to gather professional opinions. Afterward, the department will be able to recommend how to proceed.