Report: Herzog Puts Netanyahu Pardon Request on Hold

President Isaac Herzog has "frozen" his handling of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pardon request. That was reported this evening (Sunday) by Kan News. According to the report, Herzog decided to halt consideration of the pardon request because of "Netanyahu’s disregard for his invitation to open a dialogue in an effort to reach agreements on the issue."

As previously reported, about a month ago the president proposed to Netanyahu and his attorneys, on one side, and to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, on the other, that they begin a process of dialogue. The goal: to reach a compromise that would later receive legal force and lead to approval of the pardon request.

Herzog invited Netanyahu to talks about a month ago, and Baharav-Miara expressed support for the move. According to tonight’s report, the prime minister did not respond to the outreach either positively or negatively. It should be noted that Netanyahu’s testimony in his trial is expected to conclude soon, and once it does, the pardon request will become unnecessary.

Two weeks ago, the president addressed the issue of a pardon for the prime minister and called for understandings to be advanced that would help prevent "a deepening of the rift in Israeli society."