Barak plays hardball with Hamas, wants to limit prisoner visitations
Defense minister proposes more restrictions on terrorists being held in Israeli jails in bid to pressure Hamas into moving forward with negotiations for Gilad Shalit
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has put forward a new proposal aimed at pushing Hamas back to the negotiations table on the matter of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
The proposal centers on limiting the visitation rights Israel awards Palestinian inmates belonging to, or associated with, Hamas. Barak has submitted the proposal to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz for review, asking him to cut back on the visiting hours alloted to inmates with their families.
In a letter sent to Mazuz on Wednesday, Barak detailed the various restrictions imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip after Hamas seized control of the enclave from Fatah in the summer of 2007.
The limitations also included prohibitions on exit permits into Israel, effectively bringing visitations from Gaza to a halt.
Barak is now seeking to expand that policy. "This approach to prisoner visitations, though it infringes on their rights on some leves, is in line with the government's policies regarding the sanctions imposed on Gaza," he wrote.
"This approach recieves significant vindication when taking into account the prolonged captivity of the soldier Gilad Shalit, who is being held in total isolation in the Gaza Strip with the full knowledge and encouragement of the Hamas government."
Barak added that "in light of the difficulties piled up by the government in the Gaza Strip, its extortionist demands to release Palestinian prisoners, and its foot-dragging in the negotiations for Gilad Shalit's release, I ask that you examine the possibilty of expanding the limitations imposed on prisoners associated with the Hamas movement, even if they are of the West Bank."
