Attorney-General Gali Baharav Miara clarified on Sunday morning that she has not yet examined Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s request for a pardon from President Isaac Herzog.

Baharav-Miara issued a statement saying, “I have not yet examined the prime minister’s pardon request. It will be examined in accordance with standard procedures. Any other report on the matter is incorrect.”

Her statement was issued following a Channel 13 report on Friday claiming that Baharav-Miara has completed her legal opinion on the pardon request and is expected to submit it in the near future. The report added that Baharav-Miara plans on declaring it illegal to grant a pardon to Netanyahu due to a Supreme Court precedent that a pardon issued before a conviction is contingent on the applicant admitting guilt to the crimes detailed in the conviction.

In court hearings, the charges against Netanyahu have been falling apart one by one, and the prime minister has stated many times that he will not admit guilt for crimes he has not committed. In addition, a long series of serious crimes committed by law enforcement and judicial officials overseeing the cases have been revealed during the hearing.

Baharav-Miara’s clarification also came on the heels of the drama after US President Donald Trump slammed Herzog for failing to pardon Netanyahu, causing Herzog to accuse Netanyahu of spurring Trump to criticize him on his behalf.

However, Netanyahu’s office clarified that Trump had acted independently, saying in a response issued on Motzei Shabbos, “President Trump’s remarks regarding the pardon were solely his own initiative. The prime minister heard about them through the media and was not aware of them in advance, just as he was not aware in advance of Trump’s remarks on this matter during his speech to the Knesset.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)