‘We cannot recommend it’: Official review advises against accepting PM’s pardon request

The Pardons Department of the Justice Ministry has determined that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a pardon over his indictments on corruption charges does not meet the necessary conditions and requirements, according to the details of its position paper published on Wednesday.

The Justice Ministry announced Wednesday that the Pardons Department had completed its legal position paper on Netanyahu’s request.

The Pardons Department determined that it would be extremely problematic to grant Netanyahu a pardon since his trial is ongoing and he has not yet been convicted, and since he has not admitted any guilt or expressed any remorse for his alleged actions in the pardon request — usually an integral part of any pardon request.

Absent such an admission, the department said the request relied heavily on claims of a public interest in ending the legal saga, including diplomatic and security considerations — claims it said it was not equipped to assess.

The document argued that Netanyahu’s request for a presidential pardon in such circumstances was unprecedented and highly irregular, and warned that granting it could undermine the principle of equality before the law.

“Therefore, based on the factual and legal foundation and the overall set of circumstances currently before us, we cannot determine that the pardon authority established in the Basic Law: The President of the State applies in this case,” the department said in summary.

“Likewise, we cannot recommend that the president take the exceptional and far-reaching step of exercising the pardon authority in a manner that would halt the legal proceedings currently being conducted against Mr. Netanyahu.”

The department on Wednesday passed its position on to Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu. Eliyahu was delegated by Justice Minister Yariv Levin to conduct the bureaucratic process involved in sending the position paper to President Isaac Herzog, due to concerns Levin might have a conflict of interest in being involved.

Levin, and by extension Eliyahu, does not have any formal authority over the pardon process but is entitled to review the position paper before transmitting it to the president’s office, and to add his own recommendation.

Netanyahu is currently standing trial on charges of bribery, and fraud and breach of trust, after being indicted in 2020.

The Justice Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the content of the Pardons Department’s position paper.

The High Court of Justice has previously ruled that pardons can in theory be issued before a conviction, but only when the person making the request has admitted to the crimes for which they have asked to be pardoned. Such an admission can be seen as a kind of de facto conviction, allowing the president to issue a pardon.

Following receipt of the position paper, Eliyahu tried to assert that the pardon request merited consideration.

“Now that the professional basis has been laid out, I have begun a series of in-depth consultations with the relevant parties in order to formulate my final and reasoned position, before forwarding my recommendation to the president,” wrote Eliyahu on X.

“This is a request of high public significance, one that requires professional, serious, and impartial handling,” he added.

The minister processing the pardon request can add their recommendation to the Pardons Department’s legal position paper, usually adopting the position of the department.

Both those documents are then passed to the president’s legal adviser, who draws up their own position paper, which is then passed on to the president himself for a final decision.

The president accepts the recommendations of the Pardons Department in the large majority of cases, although he does have the discretion to reject its advice.

US President Donald Trump has placed heavy pressure on Herzog to grant Netanyahu a pardon. The president has responded that he will make the decision free of external influence.