Attorney General Gali Baharav‑Miara has come under sharp criticism after sources in the legal system say that she has delayed handling Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s pardon request for months.

According to the sources, she is also preventing the Justice Ministry’s Pardons Department from publishing its legal recommendation on the request, despite the fact that the recommendation was completed and submitted on Sunday. According to a Channel 13 report, the opinion concludes that the prime minister’s request does not meet the criteria required for granting a pardon.

The report describes what it describes as the extent of Baharav-Miara’s obstruction, stating, “Channel 13 has learned that the reason no legal opinion was written regarding Minister Levin’s potential conflict of interest is that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara believes this is not a pardon request at all.”

The pardon request was transferred to Baharav-Miara about three months ago, but she has not yet issued an official legal opinion or decision. In previous cases, Baharav-Miara found the time to act far more quickly, such as in the case of petitions demanding the dismissal of National Security Minister Itamar Ben‑Gvir, when she published a legal opinion days before the required deadline.

Baharav‑Miara has also failed to respond for three months to a technical inquiry from Justice Minister Yariv Levin on a potential conflict of interest in handling Netanyahu’s pardon request due to his close relationship with the prime minister. Levin is also considered the second most senior figure in the Likud party, a factor that sources say could prompt claims of a conflict of interest and attempts to stall the legal proceedings for months.

Levin gave up on receiving a reply from Baharav-Miara, and to prevent further delays, he transferred responsibility for the matter to Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit), who regularly handles cases in which Levin is barred from involvement.

The move is intended to preempt any potential claims that the recommendation could be invalidated due to a conflict of interest, allowing the decision-making process to proceed without unnecessary delays.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)