Iranian missile hits between buildings in Israel's Tel Aviv; no injuries reported

Heritage minister recommends president grant Netanyahu pardon

The pardon request for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moved forward as far-right Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit) submitted his opinion to President Isaac Herzog, along with the Justice Ministry's Pardons Department opinion and supporting materials.

Eliyahu accepted Netanyahu's claim that the pardon would allow the rift in the nation to be healed.

Eliyahu was granted the authority to give an opinion on Netanyahu's pardon in place of Justice Minister Yariv Levin. The position of the pardons department is usually presented first to the justice minister, but to avoid the possibility of a conflict of interest, given Levin's close relationship with the prime minister, it was given instead to Eliyahu.

The materials will not be reviewed by the legal adviser of the President's residence to present recommendations to Herzog.

Netanyahu submitted the pardon request to the president in November, without admitting guilt or expressing remorse. He also did not express an intention in his letter to retire from political life.

Traditionally, pardon requests in Israel are submitted by defendants who have already been convicted and sentenced. Netanyahu's lawyers argue, however, that the president has the authority to pardon the prime minister even if he has not been convicted in court. In his request, Netanyahu demands to halt an ongoing criminal trial, a procedure that has no legal basis.