TEL AVIV (BNO NEWS) -- Five Israeli soldiers who were sentenced to jail for wearing political t-shirts at an official ceremony last week have been pardoned, the Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday.

Northern Command Chief Major-General Gadi Eizenkot said the soldiers were pardoned after expressing remorse and taking responsibility for their actions. The soldiers were pictured on June 23 wearing t-shirts with the slogan "Golani fights the enemy and does not expel Jews" written on their backs at a ceremony for soldiers of Golani's 13th Battalion who had completed their training.

On Sunday, the Peace Now organization sent a letter to Defense Minister Ehud Barak calling for the defense minister to pardon the soldiers. The letter said that according to the soldiers, right-wing organizers instructed them to be photographed with the shirts, saying they were surely donated by radicals.

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