Pardon him! Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf visits Ari Rosenfeld in prison

Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf visited NCO Ari Rosenfeld in Ayalon Prison today (Thursday) and released a video statement calling for him to be released from prison and if possible - also pardoned for his actions.

In his statement, Goldknopf said that Rosenfeld "does not look good" living in conditions of arrest, and he said that given Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar's assessment that he is not a threat to the public, he should be released "from this place."

Goldknopf then appealed to President Herzog to consider the written appeal, signed by many MKs and ministers and others, to pardon the NCO which was submitted to the President - "and I appeal again" to the President to do so.

The minister ended by noting that the NCO is a young man with his whole future ahead of him, and that he thinks that "we can forgive him for his actions."

Rosenfeld's attorneys recently tried to have him released from prison, noting his deteriorating mental health, expert opinions in his favor, and the report that Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar had reportedly told President Herzog that Rosenfeld was not a danger to the public.

Despite this, justice Alex Stein ordered that he remain in jail unless he commit to promise to never leak again, a promise which Rosenfeld's defenders say is an impossible demand.

Groups of families of the hostages are divided on the question of Rosenfeld. One group has appealed to Herzog to pardon him, saying that "We see this as a severe blow to the decision-making process and efforts to save our loved ones."

Meanwhile, the government is working to advance a law which would allow junior officers to bypass the chain of command and send material directly to the government which they deem relevant and necessary for them to see, regardless of the opinion of the IDF as a whole.