Based on data made available through the request of the Movement for Freedom of Information, President Reuven Rivlin is light on making use of the presidential pardon of convicted criminals. He leans more toward shortening sentence, as opposed to granting full presidential pardons.

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In 2015, Rivlin was petitioned on 1,948 separate cases, of which he approved 151, or 7.7 %. His predecessor, the late Shimon Peres, was more liberal with his presidential pardons.





Rivlin (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

2015 also saw a decline in the number of petitions submitted to the president,when compared to previous years. In 2014—Rivlin's first year as president—2,457 pardons were submitted, out of which 235 were approved. Rivlin's presidency began in July 2014.

Peres, on the other hand, had approved 254 pardon petitions in 2012 out of 2,483 pardon petitions, meaning 10% were approved. In 2013, he pardoned 330 out of the 1,897 petitions submitted to him as president, which amounted to 17%.

The President's Office asked that people not jump to conclusions. "The president comes to his decisions on a case-by-case basis, in accordance to concrete circumstances."

Movement for Freedom of Information Head Nirit Blair issued a statement in ligh of this data, saying that "The president is once again leading the way in freedom of information and respecting the citizens' rights to (access) reliable governmental information. We hope other authorities will follow his lead in recognizing the importance of making governmental information public."