Israel prepares to broaden definition of Palestinian prisoners who can be freed
Vice Premier Ramon to ask senior ministers to approve release of Palestinian prisoners involved in terror attacks as part of deal to free IDF soldier Shalit. Lieberman: Move will lead to more kidnappings
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is trying to relax the criteria for releasing Palestinian prisoners, a move that could advance efforts to free a captured Israeli soldier, officials said Monday.
Israel's stated policy is to refuse early releases to Palestinians involved in attacks on Israelis, even though it has relaxed that policy in past prisoner swaps. On Monday, a key ally of Olmert's will convene a meeting of senior ministers to ask them to approve the release of prisoners involved in attempted attacks, officials said.
"We are in such a situation that, if we continue with the criteria that were used in the past, there will be no one else left to free," Ephraim Sneh, a lawmaker in the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, told Army Radio. "If we want to free prisoners ... And bring about the release of Gilad Shalit, we will have to broaden this."
Hamas-linked terrorists captured Cpl. Gilad Shalit in a June 2006 raid on an Israeli army outpost after tunneling under the Gaza-Israel border.
The prime minister's office would not comment on the meeting. Olmert is not expected to participate, but the discussion will be led by a confidant, Vice Premier Haim Ramon, the officials said.
They spoke on condition of anonymity since they were not authorized to talk about the matter publicly.
Minister Tzipi Livni, Avi Dichter, Ami Ayalon and Daniel Friedmann are also expected to attend.
Israel is holding about 9,000 Palestinians. Because so many families have members in Israeli prisons, their release is a central Palestinian demand and a key to building confidence between Israel and the Palestinians as they renew peace negotiations. Hamas, which violently seized control of Gaza in June, is not involved in those talks.
'No lite-terrorists'
About 770 have been freed since July, far short of Palestinian expectations. Among those released, none was involved in deadly attacks on Israelis. Olmert is seeking the ministerial backing for broadening the release criteria because he has been unable to persuade the chief of the Shin Bet security agency, Yuval Diskin, to ease them, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported Monday.
Although Olmert can make the change himself, such a decision made alone could be highly unpopular among the Israeli public, so Olmert wants senior ministers to back him, the newspaper said.
Israel and Hamas have no direct contacts because of the Islamic group's history of suicide bombings against Israelis and its refusal to recognize the Jewish state's right to exist. Egypt has mediated between the two sides on the Shalit affair.
Yediot reported that earlier this year, Hamas agreed to free Shalit in exchange for the release of 450 Palestinian prisoners, but the prisoners it wanted freed did not meet the Israeli threshold.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is traveling to Egypt on Wednesday to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Israeli media have speculated that the two men will, among other things, discuss a prisoner swap.
Minister for Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman of Yisrael Beitenu said altering the criteria for releasing Palestinian prisoners that were involved in attacks against Israel “will only lead to additional kidnappings," while Tourism Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, also of Yisrael Beitenu, said, "I don't believe in 'terrorism-lite'. In principle I am against the release of terrorists, especially those with 'blood on their hands', if we receive nothing in return.
"Some of the terrorists commit additional murderous attacks in Israel after they are freed," he said. "As for releasing terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit, deliberations on the matter should be held behind closed doors and not in the media. When the government will present concrete proposals, I'll vote accordingly."
