For Shalit's birthday: Renewed negotiations?

VIDEO - On the eve of Gilad Shalit's 22nd birthday, it seems there is a possibility of renewed negotiations for his release. The 'kitchen cabinet' (comprised of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni) decided Wednesday afternoon to begin the process of easing conditions for the

 release of Palestinian prisoners with blood on their hands.

The decision comes on the heels of Barak's meetings in Alexandria with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Egyptian head of intelligence Omar Suleiman.

A ministerial committee to change the criteria for release of Palestinian prisoners is scheduled to take place on Sunday.

The committee, led by Haim Ramon and including Avi Dichter, Ami Ayalon, Gideon Ezra and Daniel Friedman, is supposed to present the cabinet with extra names of Palestinian prisoners who qualify for release. These names are additional to those of 70 Palestinians with blood on their hands that appear in Hamas' original list of ransom demands.

Video courtesy of infolive.tv

Notably, the Shin Bet opposes the increased flexibility on the release of Palestinian terrorists, even in exchange for Gilad Shalit.

Gilad Shalit's birthday on Thursday provides an excellent forum for additional lobbying and pressure on the government by those campaigning for the soldier's release at all costs. As such, Barak, Olmert and Livni are making an effort to increase their efforts to promote renewed the stymied negotiations.

Egypt getting re-involved

Pursuant to Barak's meetings in Egypt, as well as recent discussions between Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry's Security-Diplomatic Bureau and Suleiman, the government has set November as a target for Shalit's release. The kitchen cabinet believes that reaching this goal is contingent upon behaving more amenably to Hamas demands.

According to Egyptian sources who spoke with Barak, Hamas' official demands have remained consistent at 450 prisoners, despite calls by many senior Hamas officials to increase this number following Israel's lopsided exchange deal with Hizbullah. Additionally, Barak was told that the Egyptians would attempt to push for greater flexibility from Hamas.

Government sources in Jerusalem emphasized that, despite the positive Egyptian gestures, it is too soon to be optimistic regarding Shalit's release.

"We've been in this place before. We're trying to prove our intentions to promote the (negotiation) process. It's unclear whether this will lead to an actual renewal of negotiations with Hamas in Cairo," a source said.