President Moshe Katzav addressed himself today to the efforts to gain a pardon for Margalit Har-Shefi - but left even more question marks than before. He was presented with a petition asserting, \"We believe Margalit Har-Shefi in her consistent claim that if she had thought that Yigal Amir\'s boasts would end with murder, she would have done everything she could to stop him.\" The petition asking the President to pardon Margalit was signed by leading academics such as Prof. Eliezer Schweid, Prof. Michael Rosenbluh, Prof. Shalom Rosenberg, and others.
The President made an ambiguous statement regarding his plans to pardon or not pardon her. He said, \"I was asked today by Army Radio if I felt that the sentence handed down to Margalit Har-Shefi was justified, and I responded that if a person knows of someone\'s intention to kill the Prime Minister and does nothing to stop it, that person deserves not nine months in jail, but rather 90 years. Now you can interpret this as you please, either to her benefit or not...\" He said that the only request for a pardon that he can consider is one by Margalit or her family, \"and in such a case I will consider it according to law.\"
The President made an ambiguous statement regarding his plans to pardon or not pardon her. He said, \"I was asked today by Army Radio if I felt that the sentence handed down to Margalit Har-Shefi was justified, and I responded that if a person knows of someone\'s intention to kill the Prime Minister and does nothing to stop it, that person deserves not nine months in jail, but rather 90 years. Now you can interpret this as you please, either to her benefit or not...\" He said that the only request for a pardon that he can consider is one by Margalit or her family, \"and in such a case I will consider it according to law.\"