BICOM

An Israeli Ministerial Committee yesterday approved the release this week of 26 long-term Palestinian prisoners, as part of a commitment made to the Palestinian Authority (PA) prior to the restart of peace negotiations.

In July, Israel agreed to the release of 104 long-term Palestinian prisoners in stages, to pave the way for the resumption of peace talks. In August, the first group of twenty six prisoners was released and yesterday a ministerial committee approved freeing a second group, consisting exclusively of Palestinians convicted of involvement in the murder of Israelis. All are serving terms ranging from 17 to 28 years; five are from the Gaza Strip the remainder from the West Bank.

The names of the twenty six prisoners slated for release were published late last night after the families of their victims had been informed and were granted a forty eight hour period of appeal.  The Office of the Israeli Prime Minister said that should any of the prisoners resume terrorist activity, they would be re-arrested and serve the remainder of their original sentence.

Yesterday’s decision sparked debate within Israel’s government. The Jewish Home party released a statement saying “We will continue to fight with all our strength against the release of prisoners.” Jewish Home yesterday sponsored a bill to prohibit future Palestinian prisoner releases, but it was rejected by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation.

Taking aim at Jewish Home’s opposition to the release, Hatnuah leader and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni commented, “This government, as opposed to one of its member parties, is acting out of the nation’s interest and not that of cynical partisan interests.” Interior Minister, Likud MK Gideon Sa’ar was even more candid, telling Jewish Home “You are responsible just like all the other members of the government… If you don’t like it, you can resign [from the government].”